Irving Stone
Irving Stone
Irving Stonewas an American writer, chiefly known for his biographical novels of noted artists, politicians and intellectuals; among the best known are Lust for Life, about the life of Vincent van Gogh, and The Agony and the Ecstasy, about Michelangelo...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth14 July 1903
CountryUnited States of America
inspirational love-is people
Story writers say that love is concerned only with young people, and the excitement and glamour of romance end at the altar. How blind they are. The best romance is inside marriage; the finest love stories come after the wedding, not before.
book mental-illness cures
I do not know a better cure for mental illness than a book.
flames waiting soul
Our secret thoughts - do they ever show up? The small flame of our soul can be burning hot, but no one comes to its warmth. Passersby see only a small whiff going through the chimney. Don't we need to take care of that flame, cherish it and patiently wait until someone will come and sit at it, do we?
artist would-be miserable
One should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. It is only for those who would be miserable without it.
inspirational friendship book
There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books.
alphabet
Each of us has his own alphabet with which to create poetry.
men people generosity
Who wants to do good in this world must deny oneself. A man does not live on this Earth to be happy or to be honest only - he has to do great things for humanity, achieve the generosity of the spirit and rise above the banality where most of the people are drowning and wasting their days.
love romance before-marriage
The best romance is inside marriage; the finest love stories come after the wedding, not before.
believe good romantic stay work
There's nothing romantic about my work... I don't believe in inspiration. I believe that you get to your desk, you stay there, you work, you think of nothing else. You write and you write, and in the end, you write something good.
document novel sets truth
The biographical novel sets out to document this truth, for character is plot, character development is action, and character fulfillment is resolution.
across art authentic delight documented face human life material novel purity raw true
The biographical novel is a true and documented story of one human being's journey across the face of the years, transmuted from the raw material of life into the delight and purity of an authentic art form.
deep father fear hated life painting seen spent strange women
Strange story about Degas. He hated women, didn't want to be with them. Yet he spent much of his life painting them. He had seen his father maltreat his mother, must have had a deep fear that he'd do the same thing.
becoming bottom five forget main page profession spend time year
In the biographical novel, there's only one person involved. I, the author, spend two to five years becoming the main character. I do that so by the time you get to the bottom of Page 2 or 3, you forget your name, where you live, your profession and the year it is. You become the main character of the book. You live the book.
art dead exhibit feet gallery gogh hanging invited italy move rabbits religious san saw van
I thought art was dead rabbits hanging by their feet on a wall. I went to Italy and saw all the religious paintings, and they didn't move me all that much. Then someone invited me to see this van Gogh exhibit at the Rosenberg Gallery in San Francisco.