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Start early and work hard. A writer's apprenticeship usually involves writing a million words (which are then discarded) before he's almost ready to begin. That takes a while.

David Eddings

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David Eddings
Age: 77 †
Born: 1931
Born: July 7
Died: 2009
Died: June 2
Novelist
Writer
Spokane
Washington
David Carroll Eddings
Start
Begin
Words
Early
Hard
Usually
Writing
Writer
Work
Ready
Apprenticeship
Millions
Discarded
Takes
Involves
Almost
Million

More quotes by David Eddings

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All I knew was that I would die if he sent me away. He shrugged. You can cut a man’s heart out with a shrug, did you know that?
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The old man was peering intently at the shelves. 'I'll have to admit that he's a very competent scholar.' Isn't he just a librarian?' Garion asked, 'somebody who looks after books?' That's where all the rest of scholarship starts, Garion. All the books in the world won't help you if they're just piled up in a heap.
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Young people, however, tend to ignore the customs of their elders. Adolescent rebellion has been responsible for all manner of absurd costumes. The more ridiculous a certain fashion is, the more adolescents will cling to it.
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If you're going to maintain any kind of self-respect, you're going to have to keep secrets from yourself.
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Call it my little gesture toward social conscience, but I like to think I'm teaching a certain number of people to read. Now that sounds pretentious!
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This is terrible, when a writer is bored by his own work, but it was a real bomb and had reached the point where I couldn't even stand to look at it any more.
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Nothing that ever happens is so unimportant that it doesn't change things.
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I must admit that I haven't heard of the Duchess of Erat before. You're a fortunate man, Wolf said. She's a great beauty, the man said admiringly. And has a temper to match, Wolf told him. I noticed that, the guard said. We noticed you noticing, Silk told him slyly.
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It's one of the advantages of being a woman. I get to do all sorts of unfair things, and you have to accept them because you're too polite not to. --Polgara
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Don’t be afraid to discard work you know isn’t up to standard. Don’t save junk, just because it took you a long time to write it.
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Now what?” Urgit warily asked his bride-to-be. “Am I disturbing your Majesty?” Prala asked. “…You always disturb me, my beloved,” he answered her question, spreading his arms extravagantly.
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No day in which you learn something is a complete loss.
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Events are like horses. Sometimes they run away. After they've run for a while, though, they'll start to walk again. Then there'll be a time to put everything together.
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Nobles and peasants marry early. Businessmen tend to wait.
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What happened to your foot? I had a little disagreement with an eagle --stupid birds, eagles. He couldn't tell the difference between a hawk and a pigeon. I had to educate him. He bit me while I was tearing out a sizable number of his wing feathers. Uncle, Polgara said reproachfully. He started it.
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Behold the Drojim Palace, King Urgit said extravagantly to Sadi, the hereditary home of the House of Urga. A most unusual structure, You Majesty, Sadi murmured. That's a diplomatic way to put it. Urgit looked critically at his palace. It's gaudy, ugly, and in terribly bad taste. It does, however, suit my personality almost perfectl
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I've looked at the world for quite a few years now and I've found that if I don't laugh, I'll probably end up crying. - Prince Kheldar of Drasnia
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Consistency is the defense of a small mind
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I didn't particularly feel like being arrested, so I argued with the soldiers a bit. Several of them died during the argument - those things happen once in a while. Unfortunately, one of the casualties was Taur Urgas' oldest son. The king of the Murgos took it personally. He's very narrow-minded sometimes. - Silk
David Eddings
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The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell you without takinga long hard look at it yourselves.
David Eddings