Stephen King

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Avoiding digital distractions

  “YouTube is very addictive. I refused to put it on my favorite places because it's too easy to go there.”

  Our noteExplaining how he manages distractions to maintain focus.

• Belief in logic

  “You can go through your whole life telling yourself that life is logical, life is prosaic, life is sane. Above all, sane. And I think it is.”

  Our noteContemplating the nature of reality and sanity.

• Survival and awareness

  “Living by your wits is always knowing where the wasps are.”

  Our noteKing uses a metaphor to describe the constant vigilance required for survival.

• Resilience in life

  “Tough old world, baby. If you're not bolted together tightly, you're gonna shake, rattle, and roll before you turn thirty.”

  Our noteKing comments on the necessity of mental toughness to survive a harsh world.

• Perception of integrity

  “But people who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad.”

  Our noteReflecting on why moral conviction often looks like madness to others.

• Life versus fiction

  “In a book, all would have gone according to plan.... but life was so fucking untidy - what could you say for an existence where some of your most crucial conversations of your life took place when you needed to take a shit”

  Our noteReflecting on the messy and unorganized nature of real life compared to books.

• Nature of humor

  “Humor is almost always anger with its makeup on, I think, but in little towns the makeup tends to be thin.”

  Our noteObserving how humor masks anger in small-town settings.

• editing and brevity

  “The book is about 700 pages long, and I'm thinking, "There's probably a good 350-page novel in there.”

  Our noteKing evaluates the bloat in one of his earlier novels.

• leaving a legacy

  “The truth is darkness, and the only thing that matters is making a statement before one enters it. Cutting the skin of the world and leaving a scar.”

  Our noteKing writes about the human desire to leave a mark on history.

• Dismissive leadership

  “Find out what he wants and tell me later. If we've got mice chewing the wiring again, it can wait. I'm busy.”

  Our noteA manager dismisses a subordinate's urgent concern because she feels too busy.