Dorthea Brande

Dorothea Brande was born in Chicago and attended the University of Chicago. Her book Becoming a Writer, published in 1934, is still in print and offers advice for beginning and sustaining any writing enterprise. She also wrote Wake Up and Live, published in 1936, which sold over two million copies. May her quotes inspire you to act boldly and make your dreams a reality.

1. “There are seeds of self-destruction in all of us that will bear only unhappiness if allowed to grow.” Dorothea Brande

2. “So long as new ideas are created, sales will continue to reach new heights.” Dorothea Brande

3. “Man’s mind is not a container to be filled but rather to be kindled.” Dorothea Brande

4. “The Wright Brothers flew through the smoke screen of impossibility.” Dorothea Brande

5. “By going over your day in imagination before you begin it, you can begin acting successfully at any moment.” Dorothea Brande

6. “Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.” Dorothea Brande

7. “My own experience has been that there is no field where one who is in earnest about learning to do good work can make such enormous strides in so short a time.” Dorothea Brande

8. “Most of the methods of training the conscious side of the writer – the craftsman and the critic in him – are actually hostile to the good of the artist’s side; the converse of this proposition is likewise true. But it is possible to train both sides of the character to work in harmony, and the first step in that education is to consider that you must teach yourself not as though you were one person, but two.” Dorothea Brande

9. “The only difference between a problem and a solution is that people understand the solution.” Dorothea Brande

10. “If you can discover what you like, if you can discover what you truly believe about most of the major matters of life, you will be able to write a story which is honest and original and unique.” Dorothea Brande

11. “Writing calls on unused muscles and involves solitude and immobility.” Dorothea Brande

12. “It is the sum of small things successfully done that lifts a life out of bondage to the humdrum.” Dorothea Brande

13. “Hitch your unconscious mind to your writing arm.” Dorothea Brande

14. “For half an hour each day transport yourself back to the state of wide-eyed interest that was yours at age five.” Dorothea Brande

15. “Most writers flourish greatly on a simple, healthy routine with occasional time off for gaiety.” Dorothea Brande

16. “In the long run it makes little difference how cleverly others are deceived; if we are not doing what we are best equipped to do, or doing well what we have undertaken as our personal contribution to the world’s work, at least by way of an earnestly followed avocation, there will be a core of unhappiness in our lives which will be more and more difficult to ignore as the years pass.” Dorothea Brande

17. “Old habits are strong and jealous.” Dorothea Brande

18. “A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved.” Dorothea Brande

19. “Act boldly and unforeseen forces will come to your aid.” Dorothea Brande

20. “To guarantee success, act as if it were impossible to fail.” Dorothea Brande

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