947 Quotes About Characters

Sacrifice of the self is sheer stupidity if sacrifice is not for the self.

In general there should be gay characters in YA because a) surprise, there are gay folks everywhere and b) in my opinion as a father, there’s not a damn thing wrong with my child encountering gay folks in her literature, because see point a).

Getting all emotionally wrapped up in made-up people's lives gives me a chance to take a break from my own life [...].

What's real and what's not? People we meet in books--Holden Caulfield, Captain Ahab, Huckleberry Finn, Harry Potter, Bilbo and Gandalf and Frodo-- can become more memorable, and more important to us than people with birth certificates and drivers' licenses. Characters spawned in an author's imagination find a home inside us. They make our lives richer. They become our best friends. They never disappoint. And they never die.

Be sure not to discuss your hero's state of mind. Make it clear from his actions."(Letter to Alexander Chekhov, May 10, 1886)

The 10 ever greatest misplacements in life:1. Leadership without character.2. Followership without servant-being.3. Brotherhood without integrity.4. Affluence without wisdom.5. Authority without conscience.6. Relationship without faithfullness.7. Festivals without peace.8. Repeated failure without change.9. Good wealth without good health.10. Love without a lover.

If you're silent for a long time, people just arrive in your mind.

In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!"(Letter to Alexander Chekhov, May 10, 1886)

When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away - even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.