James Joyce Quotes about Writing

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

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

Writing, Effort, Risk

I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality.

James Joyce

Writing, Way, Arguing

James Joyce, Jeri Johnson (2008). “Ulysses”, p.10, Oxford Paperbacks

I have the words already. What I am seeking is the perfect order of words in the sentence. You can see for yourself how many different ways they might be arranged.

James Joyce

Writing, Order, Perfect

No pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, no inclination.

James Joyce

Writing, Ink, Tables

James Joyce (2016). “The Complete Works of James Joyce: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Poetry, Essays & Letters: Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegan’s Wake, Dubliners, The Cat and the Devil, Exiles, Chamber Music, Pomes Penyeach, Stephen Hero, Giacomo Joyce, Critical Writings & more”, p.3988, e-artnow

For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.

James Joyce

Writing, Heart, Cities

James Joyce (2016). “Stephen Hero & A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Two Autobiographical Novels): Including Biography of the Author”, p.386, e-artnow

Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why.

James Joyce

Reading, Writing, Reason Why

James Joyce (2016). “The Complete Works of James Joyce: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Poetry, Essays & Letters: Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegan’s Wake, Dubliners, The Cat and the Devil, Exiles, Chamber Music, Pomes Penyeach, Stephen Hero, Giacomo Joyce, Critical Writings & more”, p.3562, e-artnow

Poetry, even when apparently most fantastic, is always a revolt against artifice, a revolt, in a sense, against actuality.

James Joyce

Writing, Fantastic, Revolt

James Joyce, Kevin Barry, Conor Deane (2000). “Occasional, Critical, and Political Writing”, p.59, Oxford University Press, USA

What's in a name? That is what we ask ourselves in childhood when we write the name that we are told is ours.

James Joyce

Writing, Names, Childhood

James Joyce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of James Joyce (Illustrated)”, p.390, Delphi Classics

My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the centre of paralysis.

James Joyce

Country, Writing, Men

"A brief survey of the short story part 32: James Joyce" by Chris Power, www.theguardian.com. March 9, 2011.