Though imagination and creativity form the bread and butter of the writer’s world, there is no greater shield at their disposal than self-respect. If you write, you will be met with criticisms, with ridicule, with doubt. The writer needs to be able to stand against them, to take their words in stride yet have the power and the faith in themselves that they might continue on…
“Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it.”
~Whitney Griswold
“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”
~Cyril Connolly
“He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow