List of Rick Bragg Quotes

Most National Correspondents Will Tell You They Rely On Stringers And Researchers And Interns And Clerks And News Assistants.

The Best Writers Who Have Put Pen To Paper Have Often Had A Journalism Background.

People Who Think There Is Something Pedestrian About Journalism Are Just Ignorant.

I Don't Think There's A Difference Between Writing For A Newspaper Or Magazine And Doing A Chapter In A Book.

The Haitians, Who Knew Something About Suffering And Survival, Had A Beautiful Phrase... The Translation Is Not Perfect, But The Nut Of It Was: 'the Season Of Pain Is Never Over Until The Sky Begins To Cry.

I Have Dictated Stories From An Airport After Writing The Story Out In Longhand On The Plane That I Got From Phone Interviews And Then Was Applauded By Editors For 'working Magic.

And Sandy Martindale ... Dated Elvis Before The Rhinestone Jumpsuits And The Drugs, When He Was Sharp And Cool And Jagged, Like Porcelain That Has Been Hurled Against A Wall.

There Are These Boutique Writers Out There Who Think If They Are Not Writing Their Novels Sitting At A Bistro With Their Laptops, Then They're Not Real Writers. That's Ridiculous.

When You're A Sportswriter, You Learn How To Use Your Imagination And To Flex Your Literary Muscle, Because It's The Same Game Played Over And Over Again. There's Nothing Unique Or Marvelous. It's Not An Earthquake, Or A Weird Mass Murder. It's Just The Same Old Game Played Over And Over, And You Have To Bring Out The Personalities. You Have To Drag Them Kicking And Screaming Out Into The Light Of Day, Or You're Not A Good Sportswriter.

These Were People... Who Built Redwood Decks On Their Mobile Homes And Have No Idea That Smart-aleck Yankees Think That Is Somehow Funny. People Of The Pines. My People.

Like Most Men, Jimmy Jim Was Neither All Good Nor All Bad. It Is Just That When He Was Bad, Gentler People Saw In Him A Disturbing Fury. People, A Lot Them, Don't Understand Fury. They Understand Anger And Even Hatred, But Fury Is One Of Those Old Words That Have Gone Out Of Style. Jimmy Jim Bundrum Understood It. It Rode His Shoulder Like A Parrot.

It Is Easy To Be Liked When The World Has No Jagged Edges, When Life Is Electric Blankets And Peach Ice Cream. But To Be Beloved, A Man Needs A Dragon.