A COLLECTION OF GOOD WORDS
作家和写作
Writers And Writing
Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.
作家写作是为了影响他们的读者，他们的牧师，他们的听众，但在本质上，总是为了做更多的自己。
At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.
至少有一半的悬疑小说出版违反了这样的法律:一旦真相大白，解决之道似乎是不可避免的。
The man who is asked by an author what he thinks of his work is put to the torture and is not obliged to speak the truth.
作家问一个人对他的作品有什么看法，这个人就会被施以酷刑，而没有义务说出真相。
When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad things you did do - well, that's memoirs.
当你放下你本应该做的好事，把你做过的坏事抛诸脑后——好吧，这就是回忆录。
As for style of writing, if one has anything to say, it drops from him simply and directly, as a stone falls to the ground.
说到文风，有话直说，就像石头掉到地上一样。
Writing is sweat and drudgery most of the time. And you have to love it in order to endure the solitude and the discipline.
写作大部分时间是汗水和苦差事。为了忍受孤独和纪律，你必须热爱它。
I keep six honest serving men. (They taught me all I know); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.
我有六个诚实的仆人。(我所知道的都是他们教给我的);他们的名字是“什么”、“为什么”、“什么时候”、“怎样”、“在哪里”和“谁”。
When an author is yet living, we estimate his powers by his worst performance; and when he is dead, we rate them by his best.
当一个作家还活着的时候，我们通过他最差的作品来评价他的力量;当他死后，我们用他最好的方式来评价他。
Writing: I certainly do rewrite my central myth in every book, and would never read or trust any writer who did not also do so.
写作:我确实在每本书中都重写了我的核心神话，如果没有这样做，我绝不会阅读或信任任何一位作家。
Music is neither old nor modern: it is either good or bad music, and the date at which it was written has no significance whatever.
音乐既不古老也不现代:它要么是好音乐，要么是坏音乐，它创作的年代也没有任何意义。
Never believe anything a writer tells you about himself. A man comes to believe in the end the lies he tells himself about himself.
永远不要相信作家告诉你的关于他自己的任何事情。一个人最终会相信他对自己说的关于自己的谎言。
Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the boot-maker.
这是否意味着我拒绝一切权威?打消念头。在靴子的问题上，我听从制鞋商的权威。
KEEP EXPLORING
沿着这个主题，再读几句。
Why my interest in writers? Well, I'm one, and many of my friends are writers. I know what it's like to write. I'm interested in the creative process. I'm fascinated by the disparity between who we are on the outside, and what we have bubbling away inside us.
为什么我对作家感兴趣?我就是其中之一，我的很多朋友都是作家。我知道写作是什么感觉。我对创作过程很感兴趣。我着迷于外在的我们和内在的我们之间的差异。
Writing is turning one's worst moments into money.
写作是把一个人最糟糕的时刻变成金钱。
I do not see how a man can work on the frontiers of physics and write poetry at the same time. They are in opposition.
我看不出一个人怎么能一边从事物理学的前沿工作，一边写诗。他们是对立的。
When I am dead, I hope it may be said: 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.'
我死的时候，愿人说:‘他的罪是朱红的，他的书是被人诵读的。’
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
但文字是东西，一滴墨水， 像露水一样，落在思想上，就会产生思想 让成千上万人，也许是数百万人思考的东西。
The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.
真实与虚构的区别在于，虚构必须有意义。