Alan Furst quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Alan Furst

Alan Furst Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Alan Furst on Wise Famous Quotes.

Alan Furst quotes: One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.

One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.

Alan Furst quotes: The brutalization of humans by other humans never fails to get to me in some angry-making way. It shot up in me like an explosion.

The brutalization of humans by other humans never fails to get to me in some angry-making way. It shot up in me like an explosion.

Alan Furst quotes: For me, Anthony Powell is a religion. I read 'A Dance to the Music of Time' every few years.

For me, Anthony Powell is a religion. I read 'A Dance to the Music of Time' every few years.

Alan Furst quotes: I write what I call 'novels of consolation' for people who are bright and sophisticated.

I write what I call 'novels of consolation' for people who are bright and sophisticated.

Alan Furst quotes: With time, he developed the instincts of a priest: evil existed; the task was to work productively within its confines.

With time, he developed the instincts of a priest: evil existed; the task was to work productively within its confines.

Alan Furst quotes: I never wanted to be a Cold War novelist.

I never wanted to be a Cold War novelist.

Alan Furst quotes: People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.

People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.

Alan Furst quotes: It was a great softening, night and day it continued, a water funeral for the dying winter.

It was a great softening, night and day it continued, a water funeral for the dying winter.

Alan Furst quotes: I think I honestly invented my own genre, the historical spy novel.

I think I honestly invented my own genre, the historical spy novel.

Alan Furst quotes: A fat man with a Nazi party pin in his lapel played Cole Porter on a white piano.

A fat man with a Nazi party pin in his lapel played Cole Porter on a white piano.

Alan Furst quotes: I've never lived in Eastern Europe, although both my wife and I have ancestors in Poland and Russia - but I can see the scenes I create.

I've never lived in Eastern Europe, although both my wife and I have ancestors in Poland and Russia - but I can see the scenes I create.

Alan Furst quotes: Well, he thought, one did what one had to do, so life went. No, one did what one had to do in order to do what one wanted to do

Well, he thought, one did what one had to do, so life went. No, one did what one had to do in order to do what one wanted to do - so life really went.

Alan Furst quotes: Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It's where it all began and ended.

Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It's where it all began and ended.

Alan Furst quotes: My novels are about the European reality, not about chases. You want chases, get somebody else's books.

My novels are about the European reality, not about chases. You want chases, get somebody else's books.

Alan Furst quotes: when at last they'd had to admit to themselves that they'd made all the love they could, had been a last meal. Like

when at last they'd had to admit to themselves that they'd made all the love they could, had been a last meal. Like

Alan Furst quotes: A book must have moral purpose to be any good. Why, I don't know.

A book must have moral purpose to be any good. Why, I don't know.

Alan Furst quotes: Russia might be characterized as a wicked beast of a nation, but it was a very large beast, and sometimes it thrashed its tail.

Russia might be characterized as a wicked beast of a nation, but it was a very large beast, and sometimes it thrashed its tail.

Alan Furst quotes: I read very little contemporary anything.

I read very little contemporary anything.

Alan Furst quotes: I don't work Sunday any more ... The Sabbath is a very reasonable idea. Otherwise, you work yourself to death.

I don't work Sunday any more ... The Sabbath is a very reasonable idea. Otherwise, you work yourself to death.

Alan Furst quotes: My theory is that sometimes writers write books because they want to read them, and they aren't there to be read. And I think that was true of me.

My theory is that sometimes writers write books because they want to read them, and they aren't there to be read. And I think that was true of me.

Alan Furst quotes: French women will always look up at a man, even if he is four inches shorter than she is.

French women will always look up at a man, even if he is four inches shorter than she is.

Alan Furst quotes: I love Paris for the million reasons that everybody loves the city. It's an incredibly romantic and beautiful place.

I love Paris for the million reasons that everybody loves the city. It's an incredibly romantic and beautiful place.

Alan Furst quotes: I'm not really a mass market writer.

I'm not really a mass market writer.

Alan Furst quotes: I was as you are now. A peasant. I sought the world. Because the alternative was to spend the rest of my life looking up a plowhorse's backside.

I was as you are now. A peasant. I sought the world. Because the alternative was to spend the rest of my life looking up a plowhorse's backside.

Alan Furst quotes: What I discovered is I don't like to repeat lead characters because one of the most pleasurable things in a book to me is learning about the lead.

What I discovered is I don't like to repeat lead characters because one of the most pleasurable things in a book to me is learning about the lead.

Alan Furst quotes: Anthony Powell taught me to write; he has such brilliant control of the mechanics of the novel.

Anthony Powell taught me to write; he has such brilliant control of the mechanics of the novel.

Alan Furst quotes: When you're looking for somebody and you find yourself in contact with people you've never met, you are getting close.

When you're looking for somebody and you find yourself in contact with people you've never met, you are getting close.

Alan Furst quotes: I spend my life writing fiction, so reading fiction isn't much of an escape. That's not always true, but I don't read much contemporary fiction.

I spend my life writing fiction, so reading fiction isn't much of an escape. That's not always true, but I don't read much contemporary fiction.

Alan Furst quotes: Home at that moment was a starless night, a steady wind, not a human to be seen.

Home at that moment was a starless night, a steady wind, not a human to be seen.

Alan Furst quotes: Spy novels are traditionally about lone wolves, but how many people actually live like that?

Spy novels are traditionally about lone wolves, but how many people actually live like that?

Alan Furst quotes: Fast-paced from start to finish, 'The Honourable Schoolboy' is fired by le Carre's conviction regarding evil done and its consequences.

Fast-paced from start to finish, 'The Honourable Schoolboy' is fired by le Carre's conviction regarding evil done and its consequences.

Alan Furst quotes: I am a historian. I do a lot of research, and I try to get it right.

I am a historian. I do a lot of research, and I try to get it right.

Alan Furst quotes: Robert Ludlum, all of them, write the absolute best they can. You can't tone it down. You just do what you do, and if it comes out literary, so be

Robert Ludlum, all of them, write the absolute best they can. You can't tone it down. You just do what you do, and if it comes out literary, so be it.

Alan Furst quotes: The sun?" Goldman said in an unguarded moment. "I hear they've shot it.

The sun?" Goldman said in an unguarded moment. "I hear they've shot it.

Alan Furst quotes: I was going to be the best failed novelist in Paris. That was certainly not the worst thing in the world that one could be.

I was going to be the best failed novelist in Paris. That was certainly not the worst thing in the world that one could be.

Alan Furst quotes: I chose a time in the century which had the greatest moments for novels - the late '30s and World War II.

I chose a time in the century which had the greatest moments for novels - the late '30s and World War II.

Alan Furst quotes: There were moments when Szara suspected that many idealists drawn to Communism were, at heart, people with an appetite for clandestine life.

There were moments when Szara suspected that many idealists drawn to Communism were, at heart, people with an appetite for clandestine life.

Alan Furst quotes: Graham Greene's work must be included in any survey of top-rank spy novels, and 'Our Man in Havana' may be his best.

Graham Greene's work must be included in any survey of top-rank spy novels, and 'Our Man in Havana' may be his best.

Alan Furst quotes: I invented the historical spy novel.

I invented the historical spy novel.

Alan Furst quotes: I like to say I sit alone in my room, and I fight the language. I am wildly obsessive. I can't let something go if I think it's wrong.

I like to say I sit alone in my room, and I fight the language. I am wildly obsessive. I can't let something go if I think it's wrong.

Alan Furst quotes: I wrote out little mysteries in longhand, and my mother typed them out on an old Remington.

I wrote out little mysteries in longhand, and my mother typed them out on an old Remington.

Alan Furst quotes: I don't really write plots. I use history as the engine that drives everything.

I don't really write plots. I use history as the engine that drives everything.

Alan Furst quotes: You can't make accommodations in crucial situations and be heroic.

You can't make accommodations in crucial situations and be heroic.

Alan Furst quotes: I would have loved to have another 10 Eric Ambler books.

I would have loved to have another 10 Eric Ambler books.

Alan Furst quotes: When you are done living for yourself, only then do you learn that living for others is the privilege,' Renata

When you are done living for yourself, only then do you learn that living for others is the privilege,' Renata

Alan Furst quotes: I love the gray areas, but I like the gray areas as considered by bright, educated, courageous people.

I love the gray areas, but I like the gray areas as considered by bright, educated, courageous people.

Alan Furst quotes: It made her - a bizarre trick - long for a past that was still in the future.

It made her - a bizarre trick - long for a past that was still in the future.

Alan Furst quotes: I don't inflict horrors on readers.

I don't inflict horrors on readers.

Alan Furst quotes: I've always liked lost, old New York.

I've always liked lost, old New York.

Alan Furst quotes: Live today, for tomorrow we die.

Live today, for tomorrow we die.

Alan Furst quotes: Struggling writers are often advised to pick a simple genre, but it doesn't work that way.

Struggling writers are often advised to pick a simple genre, but it doesn't work that way.

Alan Furst quotes: I'm basically an Upper West Side Jewish writer.

I'm basically an Upper West Side Jewish writer.

Alan Furst quotes: I could not spend the rest of my life sitting in Brazil writing down who called whom uncle and aunt.

I could not spend the rest of my life sitting in Brazil writing down who called whom uncle and aunt.

Alan Furst quotes: When you move a border, suddenly life changes violently. I write about nationality.

When you move a border, suddenly life changes violently. I write about nationality.

Alan Furst quotes: Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.

Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.

Alan Furst quotes: If you're a writer, you're always working.

If you're a writer, you're always working.

Alan Furst quotes: I've evolved in my writing to tell a more emotional story - my publisher, Random House, has urged that.

I've evolved in my writing to tell a more emotional story - my publisher, Random House, has urged that.

Alan Furst quotes: Wherever God has planted you, you must know how to flower - translated from a French saying

Wherever God has planted you, you must know how to flower - translated from a French saying

Alan Furst quotes: You write a lot of books; you hope you get better.

You write a lot of books; you hope you get better.

Alan Furst quotes: I knew I was a writer; I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't know what to write.

I knew I was a writer; I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't know what to write.

Alan Furst quotes: Whether they loved each other or not, they were lovers. And he was damned if he'd see her sucked into this brutal business.

Whether they loved each other or not, they were lovers. And he was damned if he'd see her sucked into this brutal business.

Alan Furst quotes: For something that's supposed to be secret, there is a lot of intelligence history. Every time I read one book, two more are published.

For something that's supposed to be secret, there is a lot of intelligence history. Every time I read one book, two more are published.

Alan Furst quotes: Romantic love, or sex, is the only good thing in a life that is being lived in a dark way.

Romantic love, or sex, is the only good thing in a life that is being lived in a dark way.

Alan Furst quotes: You have to have heart's passion to write a novel.

You have to have heart's passion to write a novel.

Alan Furst quotes: Moscow had this incredible, intense atmosphere of intrigue and darkness and secrecy.

Moscow had this incredible, intense atmosphere of intrigue and darkness and secrecy.

Alan Furst quotes: I love the combination of the words 'spies' and 'Balkans.' It's like meat and potatoes.

I love the combination of the words 'spies' and 'Balkans.' It's like meat and potatoes.

Alan Furst quotes: This year, of course, being 1936, there would be no figs.

This year, of course, being 1936, there would be no figs.

Alan Furst quotes: If you can live in Paris, maybe you should.

If you can live in Paris, maybe you should.

Alan Furst quotes: Women take great care of themselves in France. It's a culture dedicated to making women beautiful and to manners.

Women take great care of themselves in France. It's a culture dedicated to making women beautiful and to manners.

Alan Furst quotes: When a diplomat says 'yes' he means 'maybe.' When a diplomat says 'maybe' he means 'no.' But if a diplomat says 'no' he's no diplomat.

When a diplomat says 'yes' he means 'maybe.' When a diplomat says 'maybe' he means 'no.' But if a diplomat says 'no' he's no diplomat.

Alan Furst quotes: I grew up reading genre writers, and to the degree that Eric Ambler and Graham Greene are genre writers, I'm a genre writer.

I grew up reading genre writers, and to the degree that Eric Ambler and Graham Greene are genre writers, I'm a genre writer.

Alan Furst quotes: I had a publishing history of murder mysteries.

I had a publishing history of murder mysteries.

Alan Furst quotes: The best Paris I know now is in my head.

The best Paris I know now is in my head.

Alan Furst quotes: I basically wrote five books with 'Night Soldiers,' called them novellas, and came in with a 600-page manuscript.

I basically wrote five books with 'Night Soldiers,' called them novellas, and came in with a 600-page manuscript.