William Landay Quotes

• The interior of a teenager’s mind is an endless war between Stupid and Clever.

  William Landay

  Clever, War, Teenager

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.211, Delacorte Press

  47 Copy quote

• An emotion is a thought, yes, an idea, but it is also a sensation, an ache in your body. Desire, love, hate, fear, repulsion - you feel these things in your muscle and bones, not just in your mind.

  William Landay

  Hate, Ideas, Desire Love

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.209, Delacorte Press

  8 Copy quote

• Predisposition is not predestination.

  William Landay

  Predestination

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.195, Delacorte Press

  9 Copy quote

• Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far.

  William Landay

  Simple, Important, Our Actions

  6 Copy quote

• There is no absolute beginning to any story, after all. There is only the moment you begin watching.

  William Landay

  Stories, Moments, Absolutes

  4 Copy quote

• But sometimes you can't figure everything out because you can't ever really understand other people. You can't understand why they do what they do. You just have to accept a little mystery, Ben. People are mysterious, the world is mysterious. You can't know everything. You're not supposed to. This isn't a history book. It's just the world. It's a messy place.

  William Landay

  Book, People, World

  5 Copy quote

• no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed

  William Landay

  Knowing, Possessing, Possessed

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.125, Delacorte Press

  6 Copy quote

• Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.

  William Landay

  Stories, Conflict, Driven

  5 Copy quote

• You know, being confident isn't the same as being right.

  William Landay

  Be Confident, Knows

  "Defending Jacob: A Novel". Book by William Landay, 2012.

  6 Copy quote

• There are many more ways to be attractive than to be beautiful.

  William Landay

  Beautiful, Way, Attractive

  "Mission Flats: A Novel". Book by William Landay, 2003.

  6 Copy quote

• You can write a great book and be ignored. Literary history is full of classics that were under-appreciated in their own time.

  William Landay

  Book, Writing, Ignored

  5 Copy quote

• Damage hardens us all. It will harden you too, when it finds you—and it will find you

  William Landay

  Damage

  6 Copy quote

• The rest-the vast majority, tens of thousands of days-are unremarkable, repetitive, even monotonous. We glide through them then instantly forget them. We tend not to think about this arithmetic when we look back on our lives. We remember the handful of Big Days and throw away the rest.
  We organize our long, shapeless lives into tidy little stories...But our lives are mostly made up of junk, of ordinary, forgettable days, and 'The End' is never the end.

  William Landay

  Thinking, Long, Looks

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.381, Delacorte Press

  4 Copy quote

• Crime and legal stories, broadly speaking, are just where my interest happens to lie.

  William Landay

  Lying, Stories, Crime

  4 Copy quote

• the act does not create guilt unless the mind is also guilty.

  William Landay

  Mind, Guilt, Doe

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.129, Delacorte Press

  5 Copy quote

• Well, I outline fanatically. I am a long thinker and a slow writer, though I am trying to get faster.

  William Landay

  Long, Trying, Faster

  5 Copy quote

• When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist.

  William Landay

  Writing, Mind, Trying

  4 Copy quote

• At some point as adults we cease to be our parents' children and we become our children's parents instead.

  William Landay

  Children, Parent, Adults

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.71, Delacorte Press

  4 Copy quote

• I'm a bit of a tech geek myself.

  William Landay

  Geek, Bits

  4 Copy quote

• We move through time like a man in a rowboat, looking back even as we move forward.

  William Landay

  Moving, Men, Rough Times

  5 Copy quote

• I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me.

  William Landay

  Kind, Decided, I Can

  4 Copy quote

• I am interested in computers and technology, and art, photography, and design.

  William Landay

  Photography, Art, Technology

  4 Copy quote

• I don't ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me.

  William Landay

  Book, Writing, Please Me

  4 Copy quote

• Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head.

  William Landay

  Writing, Personality, Imagine

  56 Copy quote

• I love sports, as all Bostonians seem to. I love books and movies, as all writers seem to.

  William Landay

  Sports, Book, Bostonians

  53 Copy quote

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