Quote

Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.

Patrick Rothfuss

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Patrick Rothfuss
Age: 51
Born: 1973
Born: June 6
Novelist
Teacher
Writer
Madison
Wisconsin
Patrick James Rothfuss
Ways
Pencil
Impossible
Pencils
Talk
Confusing
Understanding
Frustrating
Words
Draw
Way
Draws
Like
Using
Picture

More quotes by Patrick Rothfuss

Image
What are the three most important rules of the chemist? This I knew from Ben. Label clearly. Measure twice. Eat elsewhere.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
Secrets of the heart. We swallow hard against them every day, forcing them deep inside us. There they sit, growing heavier, festering. Given enough time, they cannot help but crush the heart that holds them.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
The desire for knowledge shapes a man.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
I'm kind of balanced between excited about the potential of the project, and the knowledge that I shouldn't get my hopes up. I like to be practical, and the truth is, these deals fall apart all the time.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
It's hard to be wrongfully accused, but it's worse when the people looking down on you are clods who have never read a book or traveled more than twenty miles from the place they were born.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
You can't write good characters if you can't imagine what it's like being in another person's skin. And if you can imagine that, you naturally want other people's lives to be better. You want to make that happen.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
When you read a fantasy novel part of the fun is getting to explore a new world. Everyone knows that. But I believe the same is true about characters. You can explore interesting people in the same way that you explore a town or a culture.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
That is like throwing two virgins into a bed. Enthusiasm, passion, and ignorance are not a good combination. Someone is likely to get hurt.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
I will say the most raw joy I've experienced reading has probably come from the times I've been reading with my little boys.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
If you open the door and realize things like the fact that Batman is occupying the same narrative space that Robin Hood used to fill 400 years ago, then you have the freedom to ignore the pointless what is literature discussion and just talk about stories.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
It gets tiresome being spoken to as if you are a child, even if you happen to be one.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
I'm not a role model. I'm an aberation. A statistical anomoly. Following in my footsteps is about the dumbest thing you could ever do.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
In brief, worldbuilding is different than setting in my opinion. Setting is a room. A backdrop. It's scenery. But without good worldbuilding, you can't have realistic feeling scenery. You can't have cool, unique backdrops for your story.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
Owls are wise. They are careful and patient. Wisdom precludes boldness. That is why owls make poor heroes.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
He then proceeded to shout at Alpha and Beta, a sign that he was in a genuine good mood. They took it as calmly as ever, in spite of the fact that he accused them of things I'm sure no donkey has ever willingly done, especially not Beta, who possessed impeccable moral character.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
There is nothing quite so delightfully mysterious as a secret in your own backyard.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
The seeds of the past bear fruit in the present.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
Language is inexorably tied to power and understanding. And power and understanding are the roots of magic. Just the act of writing something down is a magical act.
Patrick Rothfuss
Image
What were you thinking? Bast said with an odd mixture of confusion and concern. Coat was a long while in answering. I tend to think too much Bast. My greatest successes tended to come when I stopped thinking and simply did what felt right, even if there was no explantion for what I did.
Patrick Rothfuss