“Fool, said my Muse to me, looke in thy heart, and write. “
The quote comes from a piece called Astrophel and Stella but the line itself is what stands out to me. In fact, I read this quote as a stand-along quote in a book about writing a long time ago. It was actually attributed to John Lyly then and I always thought that was who said it but a Google search turns up Philip Sidney as the author instead.
It just gets to the heart of the point about writing. You can look around the entire world for inspiration and that’s certainly important to do. (I do it on a daily basis and showcase it in this column!) But in the end, you need to just look inside and write what’s there.
Question of the Day: What ancient literary quote inspires you most?
[Tags] quote, writing, literature, poetry, astrophel, stella, sidney [/Tags]
March 5th, 2008 at 10:34 am
How inspiring and so true! I often think outside of myself when trying to come with a topic, sometimes you have to take a step back and let your inner thoughts speak.