Best 6 quotes of Gordon Lish on MyQuotes

Don't have stories; have sentences.

I see the notion of talent as quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application, industry, assiduity, will, will, will, desire, desire, desire.

Never be sincere - sincerity is the death of writing.

The secret of good writing is telling the truth.

Writing is not about self-expression; it is about putting words on paper.

He came to chat with me the day of my being discharged, advising that I not stay at the dog fight until the last dog was dead. I was a kid and made little counsel. Now that I am a bigger kid, I see the value--belatedly--added. Yet I also see the loss of life in the protecting, first of all, of oneself. Better to give oneself away. Dead f*ck the dog and so on.