Amy Hempel Quotes

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Dogs Giving Journalism Mothers Writing

We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always alive.

Amy Hempel

Alive, Right Now, Dies

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.60, Simon and Schuster

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Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

Amy Hempel

Writing, Doors, Sometimes

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Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.

Amy Hempel

Heart, People, Alive

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Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.

Amy Hempel

Leader, Good Leader, Following

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I leave a lot out when I tell the truth

Amy Hempel

Telling The Truth

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.106, Simon and Schuster

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Sometimes I can better describe a person by another person's reaction. In a story in my first book, I couldn't think of a way to sufficiently describe the charisma of a certain boy, so the narrator says, "I knew girls who saved his gum."

Amy Hempel

Girl, Book, Boys

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In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.

Amy Hempel

Fall, Broken, Speak

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.129, Simon and Schuster

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I do feel that if you can write one good sentence and then another good sentence and then another, you end up with a good story.

Amy Hempel

Writing, Stories, Ends

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Just because you have stopped sinking doesn't mean you're not still underwater.

Amy Hempel

Mean, Underwater, Sinking

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.8, Simon and Schuster

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They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.

Amy Hempel

Dog, Smart, Knows

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.32, Simon and Schuster

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I meet a person, and in my mind I'm saying three minutes; I give you three minutes to show me the spark.

Amy Hempel

Giving, Mind, Three

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.71, Simon and Schuster

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An idea might spark an essay, but never a story.

Amy Hempel

Ideas, Stories, Might

"A Long Time Coming". Interview with Rob Hart, chuckpalahniuk.net. August 27, 2008.

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I exaggerated even before I began to exaggerate, because it's true — nothing is ever quite as bad as it could be.

Amy Hempel

Exaggerated

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.107, Simon and Schuster

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I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.

Amy Hempel

Want, Knows

Amy Hempel (2006). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.261, Simon and Schuster

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I've always known when I start a story what the last line is. It's always been the case, since the first story I ever wrote. I don't know how it's going to get there, but I seem to need the destination. I need to know where I end up. It never changes, ever.

Amy Hempel

Needs, Stories, Lines

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if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.

Amy Hempel

Eye, Past, Alive

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.121, Simon and Schuster

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I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal earth is trembling or if the shaking is still me.

Amy Hempel

Sleep, Glasses, Water

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.39, Simon and Schuster

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It was like that class at school where the teacher talks about Realization, about how you could realize something big in a commonplace thing. The example he gave--and the liar said it really happened--was that once while drinking orange juice, he'd realized he would be dead someday. He wondered if we, his students, had had similar 'realizations.' Is he kidding? I thought. Once I cashed a paycheck and I realized it wasn't enough. Once I had food poisoning, and realized I was trapped inside my body.

Amy Hempel

Teacher, Liars, Drinking

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I'm not first and foremost interested in story and the what-happens, but I'm interested in who's telling it and how they're telling it and the effects of whatever happened on the characters and the people.

Amy Hempel

Character, People, Stories

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He could not wait to get rid of them so he could enjoy remembering them.

Amy Hempel

Waiting, Remember, Enjoy

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.391, Simon and Schuster

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Dreams: the place most of us get what we need.

Amy Hempel

Dream, Needs

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.355, Simon and Schuster

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I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition is: Put your cards on the table.

Amy Hempel

Lying, Mean, Thinking

Amy Hempel (2006). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.233, Simon and Schuster

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I think of the chimp, the one with the talking hands. In the course of the experiment, that chimp had a baby. Imagine how her trainers must have thrilled when the mother, without prompting, began to sign her newborn. Baby, drink milk. Baby, play ball. And when the baby died, the mother stood over the body, her wrinkled hands moving with animal grace, forming again and again the words: Baby, come hug, Baby come hug, fluent now in the language of grief.

Amy Hempel

Mother, Baby, Grief

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.40, Simon and Schuster

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Journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one. You are trained to get rid of anything nonessential. You go in, you start writing your article, assuming a person's going to stop reading the minute you give them a reason. So the trick is: don't give them one.

Amy Hempel

Reading, Writing, Giving

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Just once in my life--oh, when have I ever wanted anything just once in my life?

Amy Hempel

Wanted

Amy Hempel, Rick Moody (2007). “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel”, p.373, Simon and Schuster

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Born: December 14, 1951
Occupation: Writer
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