Quotes by Barry Eisler

Barry Eisler

American novelist

Category: Writers (Contemporary)

Quotes 1 till 19 of 19.

  • Action fiction is driven more by what than by who. Put that ticking nuclear suitcase under Manhattan, and it's relatively easy to create suspense. Literary fiction is driven more by who than by what.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • After I sold my screenplay adaptation of 'Rain Fall' to Sony Pictures, I had no more creative involvement.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Books are my art. The movie is someone else's art. But it's great marketing for books.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • From the outside, the CIA seems pretty exotic, but from the inside, it's a big, bureaucratic place. Think 'post office with spies.'
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to heroes who do bad things and to villains who think they're the good guys, but I do find that moral ambiguity and conflict makes for great characters.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • I've loved thrillers and spy stories since I was a kid. It's probably not a bad rule of thumb to write the kinds of stories you love to read.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • If the reader cares, I don't think it matters so much whether your hero is in fact an anti-hero.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Overall, one of the things that excites me most about self-publishing is that the highest-value use of my time in promoting the books will be found in writing more of them.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Psychologically, it's always more pleasurable to blame others for our problems than it is to acknowledge our own responsibility.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Publishing, legacy or indie, is a vehicle, and you can't opine about whether someone has chosen the right vehicle if you don't know where she intends to drive it.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • Stephen King has inspired me with his humor and honesty, and his admonition that the author's job is to tell the truth.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • The Internet is a limitless library at your fingertips. It's a great place to start with the acquisition of knowledge. My process is to go to a place when I'm writing about it. Nothing captures the essence, feeling and flavor of a place better than when I'm actually there and doing the writing.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • The most important guideline when it comes to argument is the golden rule. If someone were addressing your point, what tone, what overall approach would you find persuasive and want her to use? Whatever that is, do it yourself.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • The two most important things to do for self-defense are not to take a martial arts class or get a gun, but to think like the opposition and know where you're most at risk.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • There's an awful lot of corruption in Japanese business and politics, corruption of the sort that can make for great setting for a spy story.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • What I care about is readers because without readers I can't make a living... And I think it's a bad thing for the world if people don't read anymore. I want people to read a lot.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • When I think of a story, somehow it just always seems to come out involving spooks and spies and government skullduggery.
    ― Barry Eisler
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  • When I was in college, I became interested in various aspects of foreign policy and international relations. Even as a kid, I was interested in what I call, loosely speaking, forbidden knowledge.
    ― Barry Eisler
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What are the most famous quotes from Barry Eisler?

The two most famous quotes from Barry Eisler are:

  • "Action fiction is driven more by what than by who. Put that ticking nuclear suitcase under Manhattan, and it's relatively easy to create suspense. Literary fiction is driven more by who than by what."
  • "After I sold my screenplay adaptation of 'Rain Fall' to Sony Pictures, I had no more creative involvement."