Opinion Writing Quotes

#1. In the world of opinion writing, there's something called the 'to be sure' paragraph. A sort of rhetorical antibiotic, it seeks to defend against critics by injecting a tiny bit of counter-argument before moving on with the main point.

Meghan Daum

#2. Nothing good gets written without the writer suffering along the way, in my opinion. Writing should be a pleasure, but unless you feel almost broken many, many times in the journey to a novel, you haven't pushed yourself hard enough.

Mohsin Hamid

#3. Am I surprised that Joe Klein [pseudonymous author of Primary Colors which he denied writing] lied? No, because in my opinion reporters lie all the time.

James Carville

#4. I can be really silly when I'm not actually writing silliness, and I have to rein that in. Pynchon, in my opinion, sometimes tells elaborate shaggy dog stories just to work up to a pun or punch line. My challenge is to use humor and wordplay to reinforce the emotional core of the novel.

Mary Kay Zuravleff

#5. In general there should be gay characters in YA because a) surprise, there are gay folks everywhere and b) in my opinion as a father, there's not a damn thing wrong with my child encountering gay folks in her literature, because see point a).

John Scalzi

#6. As usual, the note occupied less than a page and included neither salutation nor closing, Uncle Hal's opinion being that since the letter had a direction upon it, the intended recipient was obvious, the seal indicated plainly who had written it, and he did not waste his time in writing to fools.

Diana Gabaldon

#7. In writing non-fiction about people who are living, you are always walking a fine line, carrying a burden to be fair that, in my opinion, should always be there.

Jonathan Coleman

#8. Men have such a good opinion of themselves, of their mental superiority and intellectual depth; they believe themselves so skilled in discerning the true from the false, the path of safety from those of error, that they should be forbidden as much as possible the perusal of philosophic writings.

Al-Ghazali

#9. If by any chance a playwright wishes to express a political opinion or a moral opinion or a philosophy, he must be a good enough craftsman to do it with so much spice of entertainment in it that the public get the message without being aware of it.

Noel Coward

#10. Graham Wallas has reminded us that writing as compared with speaking involves an impression at the second remove and reading an impression at the third remove. The voice of a second-rate person is more impressive than the published opinion of superior ability.

Harold Innis

#11. I am of the opinion that I am not a political writer, and, moreover, that as far as true literature is concerned, there actually are no political writers. I think that my writing is no more political than ancient Greek theatre. I would have become the writer I am in any political regime.

Ismail Kadare

#12. In my opinion, works of art should be viewed as gifts; something precious given from a point of empathy, where personal enrichment is vastly superior to the value of the gift, and the giver begs for nothing but for the gift to shine on its own.

Kevin Focke

#13. We go round and round trying to convince one another that our opinion makes more sense. And the only winner is time for making us look like fools by wasting it.

S.A. Tawks

#14. I guess that my opinion of writing about real people is informed by defenses of Joyce Maynard's memoir, that the experiences were a part of my life as well, and that I have the right to write about my life.

Marie Calloway

#15. The spectacle of a judge pouring over the picture of some nude, trying to ascertain the extent to which she arouses prurient interests, and then attempting to write an opinion which explains the difference between that nude and some other nude has elements of low comedy.

Thurman Arnold

#16. Laws which prescribe what everyone must believe, and forbid men to say or write anything against this or that opinion, are often passed to gratify, or rather to appease the anger of those who cannot abide independent minds.

Baruch Spinoza

#17. Expressing political opinion can be a powerful way to establish a character's voice when writing fiction.

Jen Lancaster

#18. What is so inspiring about [Louis] Brandeis's writing is he saw it as a tool for democratic education. He would say things like the opinion is now convincing, now can we make it more instructive, after he'd gone through ten drafts.

Jeffrey Rosen

#19. Food is fun to write about because everybody has an opinion. Food is also fun to write about because it's a challenge. There are only so many ways to describe a plate of gnudi without resorting to "pillowy."

Lauren Collins

#20. [To an author who asked his opinion of his writing]
I have found only three things wrong with your work, the beginning, the middle, and the end.

George Bernard Shaw

#21. Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.

Flannery O'Connor

#22. When people read his books they have an uncontrollable desire to hang the author in the town square. I can't think of a higher honor for a writer.

Roberto Bolano

#23. If you're writing an opinion piece, it's your job to write your opinion. If, on the other hand, you wrote a novel, as Virginia Woolf tells us, it would be inappropriate if you let your novel be influenced by your political opinions.

David Mamet

#24. Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.

A.J. Liebling

#25. If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good

Ezra Pound

#26. People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my readers and interact with my readers. It is a way that they can voice their opinion.

Paulo Coelho

#27. In my opinion, it is easier to avoid iambic rhythms, when writing in syllabics, if you create a line or pattern of lines using odd numbers of syllables.

James Fenton

#28. So you're stuck. Every time your madman starts to write, your judge pounces on him ... So start by promising your judge that you'll get around to asking his opinion, but not now. And then let the madman energy flow ... Save details for the judge.

Betty Sue Flowers

#29. I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of work of fiction should be to tell a story.

Wilkie Collins

#30. Writing is mostly a case of mood management. The emotion you have is not absolute, it is temporary. It may be useful, but it is not the truth. It is not you.

Anne Enright

#31. Few people have written significant books about San Francisco. Robert Duncan was, in my opinion, often in the clouds. If he walked the streets a lot he didn't write about as such.

Stephen Vincent Benet

#32. I like to make up songs. And it's my opinion that all these songs mean a lot to me, but that doesn't mean I think everything needs to leave the house. If it helps me through my life and doesn't bore anybody in theirs.

Todd Snider

#33. If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair enough, that's an opinion. But to say it's too complex is to insult the intelligence of the so-called young.

Tanith Lee

#34. Everywhere I go, I am asked if I think university stifles writers. My opinion is that it doesn't stifle enough of them.

Flannery O'Connor

#35. People put off writing thinking they don't have the time or enough of an opinion to matter and that is crap. You are the only one standing in your own way, so get started.

C.C. Chapman

#36. I am simply of the opinion that you cannot be taught to write. You have to spend a lifetime in love with words.

Craig Claiborne

#37. Never give your opinion on someone's writing unless they ask sincerely, and never ask for someone's opinion unless you're sincere.

Justin Alcala

#38. The act of writing ... is the act of trying to understand why my opinion is what it is. And ultimately, I think that's the same experience the reader has when they pick up one of my books.

Jodi Picoult

#39. You can critique her writing, but not her lifestyle.

Lisi Harrison

#40. If you've ever wondered why some writers who, in your humble opinion, don't write as well as you do yet are rich and famous while you struggle onward, this is the reason. They are great directors.

Larry Brooks

#41. I started writing when I was 5 years old. I would dictate stories to my mother, and she would copy them in a scrapbook. If she changed anything to make it, in her opinion, better, I would throw a tantrum.

Tom Robbins

#42. I had a very high opinion of my father's judgement of things and he said, "You better get a job that pays the bills because a writer doesn't make any money. If possible, get a job that allows you to write in your spare time."

Andrew Davies

#43. Dance above the surface of the world. Let your thoughts lift you into creativity that is not hampered by opinion.

Red Haircrow

#44. The first opinion the Court ever filed has a dissenting opinion. Dissent is a tradition of this Court ... When someone is writing for the Court, he hopes to get eight others to agree with him, so many of the majority opinions are rather stultified.

William O. Douglas

#45. Happy is he who looks only into his work to know if it will succeed, never into the times or the public opinion; and who writes from the love of imparting certain thoughts and not from the necessity of sale - who writes always to the unknown friend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

#46. I write the occasional entry for the 'Times' Theatre blog, especially when I'm in London and seeing two shows a day, but I don't tweet. I don't want to have to express my opinion in 140 characters. That's like writing haiku. You need a certain amount of legroom to review a play properly.

Ben Brantley

#47. The important thing is not what we write but how we write, and in my opinion the modern writer must be an adventurer above all, willing to take every risk, and be prepared to founder in his effort if need be. In other words we must write dangerously

James Joyce

#48. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.

Virginia Woolf

#49. Any idiot can write a long book. All it takes is patience and a willingness to keep pounding on the keys. A short book is a challenge. It's all about what you don't say. What you trust the reader to bring with them.

Jason Sheehan

#50. I am of the firm opinion that no one should tell writers what to do, or what to write, or how to write.

Hisham Matar

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Philippe Le Douarec

#52. I don't have much to say about honesty. All that I feel about it that people don't discuss as far as I know is how much effort it is to create truly honest writing, in my opinion. It requires a lot of thinking and effort.

Marie Calloway

#53. I probably have a higher opinion of my writing than the average person, at least when I'm in a good mood, but I don't really think of my plays as only being relevant to a particular month or year.

Wallace Shawn

#54. In my opinion, understanding who your target audience is, and what they want, and writing to them (and only them!) is the most important component of being successful as an author.

John Locke

#55. If you are hoping to find your self-worth and fulfillment in other peoples' opinion of your writing, you will never find it.

Anne Lamott