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Brenda Ueland Quotes

Journalist

Brenda Ueland was an American journalist and writer, born on October 24, 1891, and died on March 5, 1985. She is known for her unique writing style and profound insights into writing, particularly for her book 'How to Write'.

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All Writing Thinking People Ifs Knows Listening Creative Self Trying Children Should Want Creativity Ideas Imagination Important Art Believe Feelings Littles

Famous Brenda Ueland Quotes

“If you write, good ideas must come welling up into you so that you have something to write. If good ideas do not come at once, or for a long time, do not be troubled at all. Wait for them. Put down little ideas no matter how insignificant they are. But do not feel, any more, guilty about idleness and solitude.”

Ifs Feels Writing Littles Long Ideas Matter Waiting Solitude Long Time Guilty Good Ideas Insignificant Idleness

Author:Brenda Ueland

“If we don't act at all (express our imaginings either in work or a changing personality, so that we can learn and think again something better) we certainly rot.”

Ifs Thinking Change Work Personality Something Better

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“it is only by expressing all that is inside that purer and purer streams come. ... Pour out the dull things on paper too-you can tear them up afterward-for only then do the bright ones come. If you hold back the dull things, you are certain to hold back what is clear and beautiful and true and lively.”

Ifs Beautiful Certain Clear Tears Paper Streams Dull Lively

Author:Brenda Ueland

“... the spirit, I think, is a stream, a fountain, and must be continually poured out, for only if it is poured out will more and clearer streams come.”

Ifs Thinking Spirit Streams Fountain

Book:Me

Source: Me

“You must become aware of the richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there, so that you can write opulently and with self-trust. If you once become aware of it and have faith in it, you will be all right.”

Ifs Knows Writing Believe Self Have Faith Richness Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“To have the external pressure of a job removed is very astonishing. Your own will is now your only motor and it has no horse-power. Sometimes I think that perhaps the most competent business men, and lawyers and doctors, who must be at the office at nine o'clock every morning, do not realize this and take more credit for initiative and industry than they deserve. And it is why all the bright women of the world, who if more were expected of them, might do important work, but who instead have a chronic feeling of ineffectiveness and sloth.”

“Don't think of yourself as an intestinal tract and tangle of nerves in the skull, that will not work unless you drink coffee. Think of yourself as incandescent power, illuminated perhaps and forever talked to by God and his messengers.... Think if Tiffany's made a mosquito, how wonderful we would think it was!”

Ifs Thinking Made Forever Wonderful Human Nature Drink Coffee Nerves Think Of You Skulls Messengers Mosquitoes Tiffany's

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“If only I had a wife!" I used to think, "who could stay home and keep the children happy, why I could support six of them. A cinch.”

Ifs Thinking Children Home Used Marriage Support Wife Six Happy

Book:Me

Source: Me

“When you will, make a resolution, set your jaw, you are expressing an imaginative fear that you won't do the thing. If you knew you would do the thing, you would smile happily and set about it. And this fear (since the imagination is always creative) comes about presently and you slide down into the complete slump of several weeks or years - the very thing you dreaded and set your jaw against.”

Ifs Years Imagination Creative Week Resolution Imaginative Slides Slumps

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.”

Ifs Writing Art Stills Certain Creativity Cents

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“We have come to think that duty should come first. I disagree. Duty should be a by-product. Writing, the creative effort, the use of the imagination, should come first – at least, for some part of every day of your life. It is a wonderful blessing if you use it. You will become happier, more enlightened, alive, impassioned, light-hearted and generous to everybody else. Even your health will improve. Colds will disappear and all the other ailments of discouragement and boredom.”

Source: If You Want to Write

“Everybody is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it must be from his *true* self and not from the self he thinks he *should* be.”

Ifs Thinking Should Self Speak Originals Telling The Truth True Self

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose attitude is: "Tell me more. Tell me all you can. I want to understand more about everything you feel and know and all the changes inside and out of you. Let more come out." And if you have no such friend,--and you want to write,--well, then you must imagine one.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Want Feels Writing Wells Important Interesting Attitude Teacher Imagine Love You Good Teacher

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“I found that many gifted people are so afraid of writing a poor story that they cannot summon the nerve to write a single sentence for months. The thing to say to such people is: "See how *bad* a story you can write. See how dull you can be. Go ahead. That would be fun and interesting. I will give you ten dollars if you can write something thoroughly dull from beginning to end!" And of course, no one can.”

People Ifs Giving Writing Ends Stories Would Be Courses Found Fun Interesting Poor Months Ten Dollars Sentences Dull Nerves Gifted Single Sentence

Author:Brenda Ueland

“Don't always be appraising yourself, wondering if you are better or worse than other writers. "I will not Reason and Compare," said Blake; "my business is to Create." Besides, since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of Time, you are incomparable.”

Ifs Said Reason Wonder Compare Comparison Blake Incomparable

Author:Brenda Ueland

“If I did not wear torn pants, orthopedic shoes, frantic disheveled hair, that is to say, if I did not tone down my beauty, people would go mad. Married men would run amuck.”

People Ifs Men Running Hair Married Mad Shoes Tone Pants Torn Frantic Married Man Orthopedics

Book:Strength to Your Sword Arm: Selected Writings

Source: Strength to Your Sword Arm: Selected Writings

“Creative listeners are those who want you to be recklessly yourself, even at your very worst, even vituperative, bad-tempered. They are laughing and just delighted with any manifestation of yourself, bad or good. For true listeners know that if you are bad-tempered it does not mean that you are always so. They don't love you just when you are nice; they love all of you.”

Ifs Knows Want Mean Doe Laughing Creative Nice Worst Love You Listening Manifestation Listeners Delighted

Author:Brenda Ueland

“If you are never satisfied with what you write, that is a good sign. It means that your vision can see so far that it's hard to come up to it. Again I say - the only unfortunate people are the glib ones, immediately satisfied with their work. To them, the ocean is only knee-deep.”

People Ifs Writing Mean Hard Vision Ocean Come Up Satisfied Knees Unfortunate

Author:Brenda Ueland

“If you would shut your door against the children for an hour a day and say: 'Mother is working on her five-act tragedy in blank verse!' you would be surprised how they would respect you. They would probably all become playwrights.”

Ifs Children Would Be Mother Hours Five Doors Tragedy Verses Blank Playwright

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“If you write something and they all tell you it is bad - editors, critics, everybody - think it over and you may become convinced that they are right (though you are not to be ashamed or discouraged for a minute, but keep on writing).”

Ifs Thinking Writing May Minutes Critics Convinced Ashamed Editors Discouraged

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

About the Author

Born: October 24, 1891
Died: March 5, 1985
Known for: Journalist
Quotes: 113

Books & Sources

If You Want to WriteRelated source material

Strength to Your Sword Arm: Selected WritingsRelated source material

MeRelated source material

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and SpiritRelated source material

Me: A MemoirRelated source material

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