A COLLECTION OF GOOD WORDS
作家和写作
Writers And Writing
There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth the publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to get sensible men to read it.
作家有三个困难:写任何值得出版的东西，找到诚实的人出版它，让明智的人读它。
A man really writes for an audience of about ten persons. Of course if others like it, that is clear gain. But if those ten are satisfied, he is content.
一个人真正为大约十个人的听众写作。当然，如果其他人喜欢它，那就是明显的收益。但如果这十个人都满意了，他就满足了。
Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing: it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustrations that it creates.
从根本上说，所有的写作都是关于同一件事:关于死亡，关于我们在这里所拥有的短暂时光，以及它所带来的挫折感。
In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write.
带着信心和希望，我的工作在继续。我桌上放着一卷新纸，等着下一本书。我是一个作家，我拿起笔来写。
Beauty and truth may be attributes of good writing, but if the writer deliberately aims at truth, he is likely to find that what he has hit is the didactic.
美与真也许是优秀作品的特质，但如果作者有意追求真理，他很可能会发现他所触及的只是说教。
A writer can write in an attic, or on top of a bus. Or with a sharp stick in some wet cement. To act, an actor has to have words. A stage. a camera turning.
作家可以在阁楼上写作，也可以在公共汽车上写作。或者用锋利的棍子插在湿水泥里。要表演，演员必须有语言。一个舞台。一个摄像头转向。
Success comes to a writer as a rule, so gradually that it is always something of a shock to him to look back and realize the heights to which he has climbed.
成功之于作家是一个规律，它是如此的渐进，以至于当他回首往事并意识到自己已经攀登到的高度时，他总会感到某种震惊。
I end up writing about all kinds of things. I never make an attempt to write about anything in particular. I don't have a little list of topics to write about.
我写的东西五花八门。我从不试图写任何特别的东西。我没有一个小的主题列表可以写。
One of the obligations of the writer is to say or sing all that he or she can, to deal with as much of the world as becomes possible to him or her in language.
作家的义务之一就是说或唱出他或她所能唱的，用语言尽可能多地与世界打交道。
I've really written my books for my husband and our family. They've brought us closer together by allowing us to discuss things that were unspoken for so long.
我真的为我的丈夫和家人写了很多书。他们让我们更紧密地联系在一起，让我们可以讨论很久没有说出口的事情。
They're fancy talkers about themselves, writers. If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.
作家们，他们喜欢谈论自己。如果我必须给年轻作家一些建议，我会说不要听作家谈论写作或他们自己。
Our society, like decadent Rome, has turned into an amusement society, with writers chief among the court jesters - not so much above the clatter as part of it.
我们的社会，就像腐朽的罗马一样，已经变成了一个娱乐社会，作家主要是宫廷弄臣中的一员。
KEEP EXPLORING
沿着这个主题，再读几句。
I talk to Simon, I write to him. I never used to write a diary. But now I'm writing a diary to him. I think it's not just me, but lots of others, family and friends, can still feel him around.
我和西蒙交谈，给他写信。我从来没有写过日记。但是现在我正在给他写日记。我想不仅仅是我，还有很多人，家人和朋友，仍然能感受到他的存在。
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。’
I have come to understand and appreciate writers much more recently since I started working on a book last fall. Before that, I thought golf writers got up every morning, played a round of golf, had lunch, showed up for our last three holes and then went to dinner.
自从去年秋天我开始写一本书以来，我对作家的了解和欣赏越来越多。在那之前，我以为高尔夫作家每天早上起床，打一轮高尔夫，吃午餐，出现在我们最后三个洞，然后去吃晚饭。
About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.
诚实地说，任何作家所能希望达到的最具独创性的东西，就是带着良好的判断力去偷窃。
Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.
作家为什么写作?因为它不在那里。