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I quit law in 1988 to start writing, and it took me 17 years from that point to get a book contract. I guess you can say I was on the slow train.

  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - You’d think family would be the one sure thing in life, the gimme? Points you got just for being born? So much thick, meaty stuff bound you to these people.

    You’d think family would be the one sure thing in life, the gimme? Points you got just for being born? So much thick, meaty stuff bound you to these people.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I thought when I started writing that I’d have a book out in four or five years, and as it became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen, I became increasingly frustrated and unsure of myself. Download This Image

    I thought when I started writing that I’d have a book out in four or five years, and as it became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen, I became increasingly frustrated and unsure of myself.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I realized I was never going to have any peace with myself unless I made an honest stab at trying to write. Download This Image

    I realized I was never going to have any peace with myself unless I made an honest stab at trying to write.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - There was no such thing as perfection in this world, only moments of such extreme transparency that you forgot yourself, a holy mercy if there ever was one. Download This Image

    There was no such thing as perfection in this world, only moments of such extreme transparency that you forgot yourself, a holy mercy if there ever was one.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - The funny thing is, about the time I let go of any aspiration toward worldly success, that’s about the time I started writing decent work. Download This Image

    The funny thing is, about the time I let go of any aspiration toward worldly success, that’s about the time I started writing decent work.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I started publishing stories in small magazines early on, but after seven or eight or nine years you feel like you need a little more than that to show for your efforts. Download This Image

    I started publishing stories in small magazines early on, but after seven or eight or nine years you feel like you need a little more than that to show for your efforts.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - Eruptions of talent continue to happen in Haiti, in spite of everything. Download This Image

    Eruptions of talent continue to happen in Haiti, in spite of everything.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - At a certain point I decided to keep on because I felt like the work was getting better, and I was taking great pleasure in that. Download This Image

    At a certain point I decided to keep on because I felt like the work was getting better, and I was taking great pleasure in that.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I have a horror of being self-indulgent and wasting time, and there is that risk in doing this kind of work. Are you totally deluded in sitting down at a desk every day and trying to write something? Is it self-indulgent, or might it possibly lead to something worthwhile? Download This Image

    I have a horror of being self-indulgent and wasting time, and there is that risk in doing this kind of work. Are you totally deluded in sitting down at a desk every day and trying to write something? Is it self-indulgent, or might it possibly lead to something worthwhile?

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I really had to decide why I was writing. I had no interest in going back to law; I very briefly – for about six hours – considered going to get my MBA, but in the end, I realized that the only work I really wanted to do was write. Download This Image

    I really had to decide why I was writing. I had no interest in going back to law; I very briefly – for about six hours – considered going to get my MBA, but in the end, I realized that the only work I really wanted to do was write.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - I’m ashamed and embarrassed to say that I’ve read very little of David Foster Wallace’s work. It’s a huge gap in my education, one of many. Download This Image

    I’m ashamed and embarrassed to say that I’ve read very little of David Foster Wallace’s work. It’s a huge gap in my education, one of many.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - It is sort of weird being honored for the worst day of your life.

    It is sort of weird being honored for the worst day of your life.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - The Kessler Theater is one such gem, an Art Deco beauty … for a slice of real life, there’s always the Kessler. Download This Image

    The Kessler Theater is one such gem, an Art Deco beauty … for a slice of real life, there’s always the Kessler.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world. Download This Image

    By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - If a person wants to be of any use to himself, he better insist on getting his fair share of beauty and pleasure, and if there’s something about the system that’s keeping him from getting his share, then I think he’s well within his rights to fight to change that. Download This Image

    If a person wants to be of any use to himself, he better insist on getting his fair share of beauty and pleasure, and if there’s something about the system that’s keeping him from getting his share, then I think he’s well within his rights to fight to change that.

    BEN FOUNTAIN
  • Share on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Share on Telegram Ben Fountain Quote - If you want to write, then write; if you don’t want to write, then don’t write. I fell into the former category, and I just made the decision that I’d keep on because I liked it and might someday do something decent.

    If you want to write, then write; if you don’t want to write, then don’t write. I fell into the former category, and I just made the decision that I’d keep on because I liked it and might someday do something decent.

    BEN FOUNTAIN