210 Quotes by Maria Semple

If I had written something, and I had written myself into a corner, I didn't abandon it. Because I remembered: There's always more.

I think that everyone in Seattle, their daily existence, is enriched by all the charitable giving that is courtesy of Microsoft.

I think a novel has to be about where you are at a given moment in time. I think it really needs to represent some specific pain you're going through. it's not just a story.

I suppose I could admire all these slow Seattle drivers for their safety-mindedness, consideration for others, and peace of mind. Instead, I'm a fury of annoyance.

'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' was surprisingly easy and fun to write because I was feeling such strong emotions.

When I wrote for TV, I was always thinking in terms of character and story. After fifteen years, it became hard-wired in me.

I steer clear of any novel that gets billed as a 'meditation.'

The one constant in my life has been my love of books: reading them, thinking about them, talking about them, holding them, turning people on to new ones.

Some people, especially literary people, they think, 'I'll write this original script, and it will be full of ideas. I'll submit it, and they'll hire me for television.' That's not the case.