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Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.

Bernard Malamud

We have two lives, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Life Live Suffering Two
A writer has to surprise himself to be worth reading.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Reading Surprise Worth
It’s one thing for a man not to know, not to have learned; it’s another not to be able to live by what one does know.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Diversity Justice Know Learn Men
Writing is a mode of being. If I write I live.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Boring Live Mode Writing
The short story packs a self in a few pages predicating a lifetime
BERNARD MALAMUD

Pages Self Stories
How one works, assuming he’s disciplined, doesn’t matter.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Assuming Discipline Matter Works
Life is a tragedy full of joy.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Follow Joy Life Your Heart
Nationality isn’t soul.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Nation Nationality Soul
The past exudes legend: one can’t make pure clay of time’s mud.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Clay Experience Past
Comedy, I imagine, is harder to do consistently than tragedy, but I like it spiced in the wine of sadness.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Sadness Tragedy Wine
We’re persecuted in the most civilized languages.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Civilized Language Persecuted
The first draft of a book is the most uncertain-where you need guts, the ability to accept the imperfect until it is better.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Accept Book Imperfect Uncertain Until
If the stories come, you get them written, you’re on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Cracks Eventually Mystery Real Track
No use fanning up hot coals when you have to walk across them.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Across Anger Coal Hot
Overnight business could go down enough to hurt; yet as a rule it slowly recovered-sometimes it seemed to take forever-went up, not high enough to be really up, only not down.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Down Forever Hurt Obstacles Overnight
And if at all possible, give order to; but one must not withdraw from the task if he has some small things to offer – he does so at the risk of diminishing his humanity.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Diminishing Humanity Small Some Withdraw

Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.

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Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.

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