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To say goodbye is to die a little. Raymond Chandler American novelist Raymond Chandler (born July 23, 1888) worked with director Alfred Hitchcock on …
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Maybe some people just aren't meant to be in our lives forever. Maybe some people are just passing through. It's like some people just come through o…
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It is 'where we are' that should make all the difference, whether we believe we belong there or not. Chang-rae Lee After working on Wall Street for a…
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My grandfather always said that living is like licking honey off a thorn. Louis Adamic March 23, 1899: Novelist and political activist Louis Adamic w…
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Accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart. David Guterson Happy 58th birthday, David Guterson! When the nove…
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I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. Lillian Hellman February 15, 1980: In the final stroke of a legendary 20th centu…
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The past is always tense, the future perfect. Zadie Smith October 27, 1975: Happy 38th birthday, Zadie Smith! The British novelist sold her first boo…
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You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. John Irving March 2, 1942: Novelist and wrestling fan John Irving is still passing the open windows. To…
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Laugh all you want and cry all you want and whistle at pretty men in the street and to hell with anybody who thinks you're a damned fool! Armistead M…
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She had always wanted words, she loved them; grew up on them. Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape. Michael Ondaatje September 12, 1943: Hap…
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Books may well be the only true magic. Alice Hoffman March 16, 1952: Happy birthday, Alice Hoffman! The novelist, whose settings range from the Bronz…
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Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that s…
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They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravi…
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None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are. Anne Rice October 4, 1941: Happy 72nd birthday, Anne Rice! The novelist's…
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I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. Jack London July 25, 1897: After spendin…
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To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul. Muriel Spark The Scottish novelist was born on this day in 1918.
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One can acquire everything in solitude except character. Stendhal The French novelist Stendhal (born January 23, 1783) was passionate in both love an…
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I consider my work optimistic in that the people, during the period I’m writing about them, are experiencing intense emotion. It is my belief that th…
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It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people. Ian McEwan June 21, 1948: Happy birthday, Ian McE…
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To learn something, to master something, anything, is as sweet as first love. Geoffrey Wolff November 5, 1937: Happy 76th birthday, Geoffrey Wolff! T…
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Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. Graham Greene October 2, 1904: British novelist Graham Greene's tense, terse …
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There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one. Kazuo Ishiguro November 8, 1954: Happy 59th birthday, Kazuo Ishiguro! Born in…
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Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. Thomas Keneally October 7, 1935: Happy 78th birthday, Thomas Keneally! The Australian novelist walked…
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I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us. Khaled Hosseini Befo…
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Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I had clutched at books... Richard Wright March 1, 1940: African-American novelist (and …
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No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it. Paulo Coelho August …
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Poetry has been the longest pleasure of my life. Shirley Hazzard January 30, 1931: Happy 83rd birthday, Shirley Hazzard! The well-traveled novelist w…
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Wicked people never have time for reading. It's one of the reasons for their wickedness. Lemony Snicket February 28, 1970: A most unfortunate day. No…
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We are each the authors of our own lives, Emma. We live in what we have created. There is no way to shift the blame and no one else to accept the ac…
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Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than the experiencing. Patricia Highsmith Novelist Patricia Highsmith…
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Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold. S.E. Hinton July 22, 1948: Happy birthday, S.E. Hinton! The American novelist was just 18 when her first book, The Out…
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It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be. J.K. Rowling July 31, 1965: Happy birthday, J.K. Rowling! The British novelist famousl…
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The belly is an ungrateful wretch, it never remembers past favors, it always wants more tomorrow. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn December 11, 1918: Russian n…
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There's something ugly about the flawless. Dennis Lehane August 4, 1965: Happy birthday, Dennis Lehane! Many of the American novelist's tough, Boston…
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Style is not neutral; it gives moral directions. Martin Amis August 25, 1949: Happy birthday, Martin Amis! This British novelist known for his darkly…
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She looked at nice young men as if she could smell their stupidity. Flannery O'Connor March 25, 1925: Southern Gothic novelist, short story writer, a…
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They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. Tom Bodett Ha…
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Love isn't an act, it's a whole life. Brian Moore Irish-Canadian novelist Brian Moore (born August 25, 1921) left school after failing his senior exa…
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We're all in this game together. William Styron Novelist William Styron (born June 11, 1925) was both admired and controversial. Black activists call…
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People make mistakes in life through believing too much, but they have a damned dull time if they believe too little. James Hilton Novelist James Hil…
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I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears. Shelby Foote Historian and novelist Shelby Foote (born November 17, 1916) disliked ty…
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You're only young once, they say, but doesn't it go on for a long time? More years than you can bear. Hilary Mantel Happy birthday, Hilary Mantel! T…
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When we are young, the words are scattered all around us. As they are assembled by experience, so also are we, sentence by sentence, until the story …
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I have no place left to live but in my own heart. Anne Enright Happy birthday, Anne Enright! No other birthday present likely holds as much importanc…
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Perhaps the future belongs to magic, and it's we women who control magic. J.G. Ballard English novelist J.G. Ballard (November 15, 1930) wrote his fi…
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Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep—it can't be done abruptly. Colm Tóibín Happy birthday, Colm Tóibín! The Irish novelist has sai…
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Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it. George Orwell S…
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There's something to be said about a slightly plump person—you have just enough of too much. Jamaica Kincaid Happy 65th birthday, Jamaica Kincaid! Bo…
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Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness. Pearl S. Buck Novelist Pearl S. Buck (born June 26, 1892), author of The Good Eart…
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Life is too short to be lived badly. Marjane Satrapi Happy 45th birthday, Marjane Satrapi! The graphic novelist created two beautiful, moving books a…