Claire Messud Quotes & Sayings

“The more accurately one can illuminate a particular human experience, the better the work of art.”

“If I had to summarize, most broadly, my concerns as a writer, I'd say the question 'How then must we live?' is at the heart of it, for me.”

“An abiding preoccupation for me is how much of our lives are invisible and unknown by other people, like the Chekhov story 'The Lady With the Little Dog.'”

“As any of us approaches middle age, we inevitably come up against our limitations: the realization that certain dearly-held fantasies may not be realized; that circumstances have thwarted us; that even with intention and will we may not be able to set our ship back on the course we'd planned.”

“I believe that, in an ideal world, writers would feel free to write what matters to them without having to consider success, failure, the market, etc.”

“The effort to create a work of art that is true and potentially lasting, that is the very best work of art you can create at that point in your life - a book that may only reach or move a few people but will seem to those people somehow transformative. That's the ideal; that's always the motivation.”

“I wanted to write a voice that for me, as a reader, had been missing from the chorus: the voice of an angry woman.”

“I'm not a writing group member, not a joiner in that way. I don't seek a wide swath of feedback.”

“Yes, writing is essential to me. It's my way of living in the world.”