It is a cliche, and it is also true, that humor springs from existential pain - from a need to blunt the awareness that life is essentially a fatal disease of unpredictable symptoms and unknown duration.
Gene WeingartenMostly, you become a writer not because you want to get rich or famous, but because you have to write; because there is something inside that must come out.
Gene WeingartenNationalism and patriotism are two sides of the same coin, and the most nationalistic / patriotic country in the last 300 years was Germany during the Third Reich.
Gene WeingartenThe one thing an aspiring writer must understand is that it's hard. If you think it's not hard, you're not doing it right.
Gene WeingartenAsk creative people where they get their ideas, and they will roll their eyes. It's the most common question, but it's also a bad one because the answer is inevitably disappointing. From the inside, creativity seems like an arduous task, often involving plebeian, imperfect choices, driven less by inspiration than by deadline.
Gene Weingarten