Patricia MacLachlan Quotes

Sometimes poetry--words--give us a small, lovely look at ourselves. And sometimes that is enough.

In a way, my childhood was one long bunch of pages... I read and read and read.

I, myself, write to change my life, to make it come out the way I want it to. But other people write for other reasons: to see more closely what it is they are thinking about, what they may be afraid of. Sometimes writers write to solve a problem, to answer their own question. All these reasons are good reasons. And that is the most important thing I'll ever tell you. Maybe it is the most important thing you'll ever hear. Ever.

I have great respect for children. And I have great respect for their ability as writers.

I love to talk to children about making mistakes. Its important that I tell them about how I dont get it right the first time. We live in such a perfectionist society, and they see so many finished products and polished performances.

What is perfect? Journey, a thing doesn't have to be perfect to be fine. That goes for a picture. That goes for life....Things can be good enough.

Life is made up of circles ... Life is not a straight line ... And sometimes we circle back to a past time. But we are not the same. We are changed forever.

My greatest fear is being somewhere without a book.

I have to write what I can write, and writing the text of a picture book is like walking a tightrope, if you ramble off... As my friend Julius Lester says, A picture book is the essence of an experience.

I never work from an outline, and often I dont know how the story will end.

I think its important to remember where I began. I know that when I talk to other writers, say, writers from the South or writers from abroad, its where they begin as children that is important to them.

You should know that there are some things for which there are no answers, no matter how beautiful the words may be.

All the world can be found in poetry. All you need to see and hear. All the moments, good and bad, joyous and sad.

Fact and fiction are different truths.

There is always something to miss, no matter where you are.

Being married to a psychologist, I realize that I learn more from imperfections.

Im working on a bunch of things with my daughter Emily. In some ways, shes a smarter and better editor than I am.