Literary Birthday – 13 May – Stephen R. Donaldson

Happy Birthday, Stephen R. Donaldson, born 13 May 1947.

Nine Quotes

1. I respect my limitations, but I don’t use them as an excuse.
2. Everything dies, from the smallest blade of grass to the biggest galaxy.
3. We need metaphors of magic and monsters in order to understand the human condition.
4. There is no life which does not possess its own importance, no life which may not be touched by greatness at any time.
5. Any belief that puts itself beyond doubt nurtures its own collapse.
6. Futility is the defining characteristic of life. Pain is proof of existence.
7. I can’t write at all unless I know two things about the story in front of me: where I’m going (the eventual climax of the story, my reason for telling it), and the general shape of the path to that destination.
8. I don’t decide to write a story and then go looking for an idea. I only write a story because I have an idea.
9. With every new project I’ve tackled, I’ve raised my sights. And I’ve pushed myself in unfamiliar directions, even when the effort has been acutely uncomfortable. If I haven’t made myself a better writer, I should probably pack up my tents and go home.

Stephen R. Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novelist. He is most famous for his ten-novel fantasy series, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which began with Lord Foul’s Bane.

Source for image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_R_Donaldson_(cropped).jpg

Danacea (https://www.flickr.com/photos/danacea/), CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Source for writing quotes 7-9

by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar

{6}