Gregory Maguire Quotes - Page 2

I had written childrens books for 14 years before I published Wicked. And none of them were poorly reviewed, and none of them sold enough for me to be able to buy a bed.

The sweet accident of coincidence is the best foundation on which to build.

Was it an accident that I saw Fiyero, I wondered, looking at the manager with new eyes, or is it just that world unwraps itself to you again and again as soon as you are ready to see it anew?

It's the endlessly thinking about yourself that causes such heart shame.

The overdressed traveler betrays more interest in being seen than in seeing, while the true traveler knows that the novel world about her serves as the most appropriate accessory.

Have you ever noticed when you look in a mirror, unless youre really depressed or something, the person in the mirror generally looks a little more competent, a little more curious, a little more intelligent than you actually feel yourself to be? They often look more interesting and more soulful.

I hate New Year's Eve. One more chance to remember that you haven't yet done what you wanted. And to pretend it doesn't matter.

I shall pray for your soul,' promised Nessarose. I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered.

That's the real power of art, I think. Not to chide but to provoke challenge. Otherwise why bother?

Why lock yourself in your own cage when someone is handing you a key?

The world unwraps itself to you, again and again as soon as you are ready to see it anew.

The nature of the world is to be calm, and enhance and support life, and evil is an absence of the inclination of matter to be at peace.

Remember this: Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny.

I know you don't want to hear this but someone has to say it! You are out of control! I mean they're just shoes... let it go!

Indeed, she often wondered if she were dead, or dying from the inside out, and that was the root of her calm, the reason she could surrender her character.

Yes, I'm nervous. You'll find in time most people are. They simply learn better how to disguise it, and sometimes, if they're wise, how to use their anxiety to serve the public good.

One plus one equals both.

No, she wasn't losing language. She was choking on it.

I hate to be obvious," added the Scarecrow, "but you'd have saved yourself a heap of trouble if you weren't too cheap to invest in a leash, Dorothy.

Of course. You get everything from books.

Immortality is a chancy thing; it cannot be promised or earned. Perhaps it cannot even be identified for what it is.

It appears history is going to keep happening, despite our hopes for retirement.

Approval is overrated...Approval and disapproval alike satisfy those who deliver it more than those who receive it. I don't care for approval, and I don't mind doing without.

All our lives are activity without meaning; we burrow ratlike into life and we squirm ratlike through it and ratlike we are flung into our graves at the end. Now and then, why shouldn't we hear a voice of prophecy.

You confuse not speaking with not listening.