Quotes from Jane Yolen

Aren't hidden doors the most alluring? The old stories point that out surely. Even the greatest heroes and heroines fall under the spell of a locked door.

You've got some power," Jakkin said. "One hug—and the lights go out!

How often is the passing of one storm only a prelude to another.

You know how it is: as soon as you decide to forget something, your brain comes to the conclusion that it's the most fascinating thing in the world.

Take a step, breathe in the world, give it out again in story, poem, song, art.

A shadowless man is a monster, a devil, a thing of evil. A man without a shadow is soulless. A shadow without a man is a pitiable shred. Yet together, light and dark, they make a whole.

I read everything aloud, novels as well as picture books. I believe the eye and ear are different listeners. So as writers, we have to please both.

I began as a journalist for my pocketbook and a poet for my soul.

And at twelve, heading for adulthood, a child fears that the way she is at that moment is all she's ever going to be.

Why am I working so hard? Going for 400 books, perhaps, but who's really counting?

Read something of interest every day - something of interest to you, not to your teacher or your best friend or your minister/rabbi/priest. Comics count. So does poetry. So do editorials in your school newspaper. Or a biography of a rock star. Or an instructional manual. Or the Bible.

Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become.

Language helps develp life as surely as it reflects life. It is a most important part of our human condition.

Don't let anyone discourage you from writing. If you become a professional writer, there are plenty of editors, reviewers, critics, and book buyers to do that.

My beloved husband goes through radiation, and a book of sonnets is my passionate response. And then after he dies, I write another book of poems as a farewell. The two keywords here are passion and joy. I simply have a passion for writing, and I do it with joy.

Time may heal all wounds, but it does not erase the scars.

What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.

Well,' the Goddess said, 'your heart didn't heal straight the last time it broke. So we'll break it again and reset it so it heals straight this time.

You are a name, not a number. Never forget that name, whatever they tell you here. You will always be Chaya—life—to me.

Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow.

If you give up at the first rejection or the first bad review, you will never make it in publishing.

Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.

The main plot line is simple: Getting your character to the foot of the tree, getting him up the tree, and then figuring out how to get him down again.

While I was in junior high, I wrote an entire essay in rhyme about manufacturing in New York State. In high school, I won a Scholastic poetry contest.