Annie Dillard Quotes & Sayings (Page 4)

“The writer studies literature, not the world.”

“I noticed this process of waking, and predicted with terrifying logic that one of these years not far away I would be awake continuously and never slip back, and never be free of myself again.”

“All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.”

“Just think: in all the clean, beautiful reaches of the solar system, our planet alone is a blot; our planet alone has death.”

“The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write.”

“The notion of the infinite variety of detail and the multiplicity of forms is a pleasing one; in complexity are the fringes of beauty, and in variety are generosity and exuberance.”

“I can't dance anymore. Total knee replacements. I can't do anything anymore.”

“I worked so hard all my life, and all I want to do now is read.”

“As a life's work, I would remember everything - everything, against loss. I would go through life like a plankton net.”

“At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it.”