Quotes from Siegfried Lenz

Sometimes, it is precisely when you discover that you are living very happily that you suddenly find yourself in danger. To be happy means to discover that you are exposed to being hurt.

I read what I write over and over and make corrections and improvements, until I reach the conclusion that the material deserves to stand on its own.

Every story I write starts with a dilemma or a theme. Once I am convinced that this is the issue that is perturbing my thoughts, I start to look for characters capable of representing it.

One never comes into embarrassment, if one is ready to balance. To ask oneself never in embarrassment, what have you in these decades made.

I read what I write over and over and make corrections and improvements, until I reach the conclusion that the material deserves to stand on its own

One look at an email can rob you of 15 minutes of focus. One call on your cell phone, one tweet, one instant message can destroy your schedule, forcing you to move meetings, or blow off really important things, like love, and friendship.

Every story I write starts with a dilemma or a theme. Once I am convinced that this is the issue that is perturbing my thoughts, I start to look for characters capable of representing it.

I sit in my room at my desk, looking out the window to the yard and waiting for a plot to come to me, to rise slowly in my mind.

Sometimes, it is precisely when you discover that you are living very happily that you suddenly find yourself in danger. To be happy means to discover that you are exposed to being hurt.

Critics are not creators. They rarely write great novels, invent new technologies, or come up with a great business idea.

I spend some of my time brooding about people who seem addicted to double standards - those who take an allegedly principled stand on a Monday, then switch firmly to the opposite principle on Tuesday if it is to their advantage.

The fellowship of the reasonable is small.

Damals dachte ich zum ersten Mal daran, mit Stella zu leben. Es war ein jäher, ein tollkühner Gedanke, und heute weiß ich, es war ein in mancher Hinsicht unangemessener Gedanke, der nur entstehen konnte aus der Befürchtung, daß das, was mich mit Stella verband, ein Ende haben könnte. Wie selbstverständlich diese Sehnsucht nach Dauer aufkommt.

I sit in my room at my desk, looking out the window to the yard and waiting for a plot to come to me, to rise slowly in my mind.