Annie Dillard

Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block. ”

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. ”

There is no such thing as an artist - only the world, lit or unlit, as the world allows. ”

How can people think that artists seek a name? There is no such thing as an artist - only the world, lit or unlit, as the world allows. ”

The sensation of writing a book is the sensation of spinning, blinded by love and daring. It is the sensation of a stunt pilot's turning barrel rolls, or an inchworm's blind rearing from a stem in search of a route. At its worst, it feels like alligator wrestling, at the level of the sentence. ”

A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all. ”

Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone. ”

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all. ”

Much has been written about the life of the mind. ”

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