Good writing is often about letting go of fear and affectation. Affectation itself, beginning with the need to define some sorts of writing as 'good' and other sorts as 'bad' is fearful behavior.

It is the tale, not he who tells it.

Where you think I’m goan?’ ‘Well,’ Eddie said, ‘what was behind Door Number One wasn’t so hot, and what was behind Door Number Two was even worse, so now, instead of quitting like sane people, we’re going to go right on ahead and check out Door Number Three. The way things have been going, I think it’s likely to be something like Godzilla or Ghidra the Three-Headed Monster, but I’m an optimist. I’m still hoping for the stainless steel cookware.

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.

And this wasn’t lying, not really. It was leaving out.

Be true, be brave, stand All the rest is darkness.

the look of the sky as the day's blue blood runs out of its cheek.