William Faulkner: 

 Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close
friends, and then for money.
Gustave Flaubert:  The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe

Goethe:  If any man wishes to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if
any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.

Ernest Hemingway:  The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in shock-proof
shit-detector.
Anne Lamott:  We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are.
Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so
little.
Epictetus:  If you wish to be a writer, write.
Eugene Ionesco:  A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either
writing or thinking about writing.
John Scalzi:  Engrave this in your brain: EVERY WRITER GETS REJECTED. You will
be no different.
Scott Adams:  Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which
ones to keep. 
Tom Clancy:  The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. 
TS Eliot:  There is no method but to be very intelligent.
TS Eliot:  Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal. 

“Literature is a matter of brains, not drugs.”—William Winter