The collection / 30 fragments

The living archive

Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01Undated

I quickly realized that shopping on Amazon had made the idea of parking my car and going into a store feel like an outrageous imposition on my time and good nature.

Maria Semple / quote

02Undated

My strength as a TV writer was my total lack of interest in television.

Maria Semple / quote

03Undated

After decades spent in rewrite rooms surrounded by other shouting writers, I discovered that I work best alone. I like being in charge of my time, working out the problems according to my own rhythms and being able to nap. That's a big one, the napping on demand!

Maria Semple / quote

04Undated

There's something uniquely exhilarating about puzzling together the truth at the hands of an unreliable narrator.

Maria Semple / quote

05Undated

Creating art is painful. It takes time, practice, and the courage to stand alone.

Maria Semple / quote

06Undated

I think because I try to keep things as real as I can, or I try to start from a place of reality, I almost don't have the imagination to write a book that's not set where I am.

Maria Semple / quote