Russell Smith Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“One of the qualities essential to writing exciting stories, whether for page or screen, is an ability to abandon one's morality. We simply cannot be good writers and good people. One must be able to access one's darkest self, one's venality and pettiness and murderousness.”

“The only thing that makes a book YA is that it is about teenagers, and it is written in a very conventional, non-artsy, non-pretentious way. YA is not the place for the oblique or the cryptic. If it is in any way experimental in form, it is not YA.”

“Even in early adulthood, men can't be told what to wear; they can only be subtly moved by example, encouragement, and a generally sophisticated atmosphere.”

“I dislike turtlenecks at the best of times, as they are always unflattering to the imperfect male physique, but when worn in combination with a v-neck sweater, they say 'Grandpa' louder than any other item of clothing.”

“I was given a thick paperback copy of the 'Guinness Book of Records' when I was 11 years old, and I read it gluttonously, cover to cover, paying special lip-smacking attention to all the incredibly gruesome chapters about the violence of human history.”

“Universities can teach maturity. They can teach teenagers how to be adults, and that means to function outside a clique or a tribe.”

“If you define eccentricity as creativity, then yes, creativity is eccentricity.”

“Periods of nostalgia are impossible to predict or explain.”

“Canadian writers don't live in gated mansions; you can just talk to them when you see them lining up at the Second Cup.”

“There is something insouciant and boyish about the sockless ankle in summer.”