Gutkind Quotes

#1. To save the family, abandon a man;
to save the village, abandon a family;
to save the country, abandon a village;
to save the soul, abandon the earth.

Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

#2. I am a writer and editor with a passion for true storytelling. To me, science matters, research matters and knowledge matters, whatever the field.

Lee Gutkind

#3. This is the first lesson for writers - or anyone - who conducts interviews: If you want someone to talk, you've got to know how to listen. And good listening is a surprisingly active process. The interviewee is your focus of attention; you are there to hear what he says and thinks, exclusively.

Lee Gutkind

#4. The seeds of genius are in many blogs, but bloggers lack the interest in or understanding of the difference between blogging and fully-formed literary efforts.

Lee Gutkind

#5. Every one must have some solitary spot where he can be alone with his God.

Andrew Murray

#6. I would prefer every [American] state keep the definition of marriage that's prevailed in Western civilization for a couple thousand years.

Gary Bauer

#7. When I talk with my students, I introduce a process of work I call the three R's: First comes research, then real world exploration, and finally, and perhaps most important, a fact-checking review of all that has been written.

Lee Gutkind

#8. The stupendous fact that we stand in the midst of Reality will always be something far more wonderful than anything we do.

Eric Gutkind

#9. Storytelling, a primitive art, is as old as the beginning of mankind. People want to receive what's out there in the form of stories, not just facts, opinion, analysis.

Lee Gutkind

#10. Man is a venerating animal. He venerates as easily as he purges himself. When they take away from him the gods of his fathers, he looks for others abroad.

Max Jacob

#11. [Will Herondale] would say he knew a warlock who was a better friend, and more worth trusting, than many a nephilim warrior.

Cassandra Clare

#12. Everyone is flailing through this life without an owner's manual, with whatever modicum of grace and good humor we can manage.

Anne Lamott

#13. The task of the mediator is to help the parties to open difficult issues and nudge them forward in the peace process. The mediator's role combines those of a ship's pilot, consulting medical doctor, midwife and teacher.

Martti Ahtisaari

#14. The myth of objectivity made nonfiction increasingly unread. In feature articles, we could be playful in the opening and clever in the end but in the middle it was back to the boring basics.

Lee Gutkind

#15. It is easy to make stuff up - and easy to dig up information and repeat it or report it to others. But to find a real life story with real people in real life situations is quite difficult and time-consuming. Yet, the rewards are worth the effort.

Lee Gutkind

#16. Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.

Charles A. Reich

#17. Maybe I have a one-track mind, but the best writers and thinkers are focusing on nonfiction these days; this is the genre where a writer can make a mark and change an aspect of the world - much more so than in fiction.

Lee Gutkind

#18. Are we, as we age, I wonder, repaid for all our thoughtless gestures

Anita Shreve

#19. Nonfiction means that our stories are as true and accurate as possible. Readers expect - demand - diligence.

Lee Gutkind

#20. Most writers want to share their essay or book much too quickly. Those who accept the pain of hard work and revising are those who get published.

Lee Gutkind

#21. Bloggers intent on self-expression which renders no service to readers don't get read.

Lee Gutkind

#22. The problem with reality TV is that creative writers are not involved; TV folks are, and some journalists who will only mine the surface of subjects. Hard work necessary for discovering and delineating the intimacies of the subjects they capture is mostly avoided.

Lee Gutkind

#23. And there are two types of stories. One type is one's own story. The other type is telling the stories of others. Thanks to this genre, writers of nonfiction can now use the tools of the reporter, the points of view and ear for dialog of a novelist, and the passion and wordplay of the poet.

Lee Gutkind

#24. ... he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.

Niccolo Machiavelli

#25. People are afraid to think, or they don't know how. They fail to realize that, while emotions can't be suppressed, the mind can be strengthened. All over the world people are seeking peace of mind, but there can be no peace of mind without strength of mind.

Eric Gutkind

#26. To reconstruct stories and scenes, nonfiction writers must conduct vigorous and responsible research. In fact, narrative requires more research than traditional reportage, for writers cannot simply tell what they learn and know; rather, they must show it.

Lee Gutkind

#27. The challenge in fiction is to write a terrific story. The challenge in journalism is to communicate solid, objective information. The challenge in creative non-fiction is to do it both and to do it well.

Lee Gutkind

#28. Years ago, I met once a week, 9 A.M. sharp, with a therapist whom I will call Dr. Mason. We would settle in well-worn chairs, Dr. Mason, a slender, balding middle-ager in blazer and striped tie, and me, an anxious academic in Levi's and tweeds.

Lee Gutkind

#29. Only the naive inflationist's could believe that government could enrich mankind through fiat money.

Ludwig Von Mises

#30. The people who are writing online and the people in my genre of creative non-fiction exert a great deal more freedom that journalists are allowed to exert in their day-to-day work.

Lee Gutkind

#31. Blogging has helped create an expanded awareness of the creative nonfiction genre, generally. But I suspect many bloggers continue to be unaware that they are (or have the potential to be) "literary" or "artful."

Lee Gutkind

#32. The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no thirdclass carriages, and one soul is as good as another.

George Bernard Shaw

#33. I grew up in Tennessee. We didn't know what Louis Vuitton was. I had to order all my prom outfits out of catalogs.

Reese Witherspoon

#34. I sometimes feel that more lousy dishes are presented under the banner of pate than any other.

Kingsley Amis