Joel Dicker Quotes & Sayings

Writer's heaven is the place where you decide to rewrite your life the way you wish you had lived it. Because a writer's power, Marcus, is that he gets to decide the ending of the book. He has power over life and death; he has the power to change everything. Writers have more power in their fingertips than they imagine. All they have to do is close their eyes and they can change an entire lifetime. What might — Joel Dicker

Books are interchangeable: People want a story that excites them, relaxes them, entertains them. And if you don't give them that, someone else will - and you'll be history. — Joel Dicker

You know what a publisher is? He's a failed writer whose father was rich enough that he's able to appropriate other people's talents. — Joel Dicker

She's fertile, docile . . . she'd give you a child every nine months! I'll teach her how to raise the children, and that way they'll all be the way I want them to be! Isn't that wonderful? — Joel Dicker

Life is a long drop down, Marcus. The most important thing is knowing how to fall. — Joel Dicker

THE LAST CHAPTER OF a book, Marcus, should always be the best. — Joel Dicker

You're asking me about love, Marcus, but love is complicated. It is at once the most extraordinary and the worst thing that can happen to you. You'll discover it for yourself one day. Love can hurt so much. All the same, you should not be afraid of falling, and especially not of falling in love, because love is also very beautiful. But like everything that's beautiful, it dazzles you and hurts your eyes. — Joel Dicker

Victory is within you. All you need is to want to let it out. — Joel Dicker

Cherish love, Marcus. Make it your greatest conquest, your sole ambition. After men, there will be other men. After books, there will be other books. After glory, there will be other glories. After money, there will be yet more money. But after love, Marcus, after love, there is nothing but the salt from tears. — Joel Dicker

I began to understand that glory was a Gorgon who could turn you to stone if you failed to continue to perform — Joel Dicker

Wish that I will succeed in life, I replied. And I thought that a shooting star, though it could be beautiful, was a star that was afraid of shining and was fleeing as far away as possible. A bit like me. — Joel Dicker

Nobody knows he's a writer. It's other people who tell you. — Joel Dicker

Writers who spend all night writing, addicted to caffeine and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes, are a myth, Marcus. You have to be disciplined. It's exactly the same as training to be a boxer. There are exercises to be repeated, at certain times of day. You have to be persistent, you have to maintain a certain rhythm, and your life has to be perfectly ordered. — Joel Dicker

Love, love, always love! But what is love? It doesn't mean anything! Love is just a trick invented by men so they don't have to do their own laundry! — Joel Dicker

The reason writers are such fragile beings, Marcus, is that they suffer from two sorts of emotional pain, which is twice as much as a normal human being: the heartache of love and the heartache of books. Writing a book is like loving someone. It can be very painful. — Joel Dicker

I don't like to dwell on regrets. They tell you that you have not come to terms with what you've done. — Joel Dicker

IN OUR SOCIETY, MARCUS, the most admired men are those who build bridges, skyscrapers, and empires. But in reality, the proudest and most admirable are those who manage to build love. Because there is no greater or more difficult undertaking. — Joel Dicker

Life is like a foot race, Marcus: There will always be people who are faster than you, and there will always be those who are slower than you. What matters, in the end, is how you ran your race. — Joel Dicker

Anytime you have doubts about what you're doing, go outside and run. Run until you can't run anymore. Run until you feel that fierce desire to win being born within you. You — Joel Dicker

No matter where you go, your problems go with you. — Joel Dicker

Life generally doesn't have any meaning - unless you strive, every God-given day, to provide it with some. — Joel Dicker

Lesson number two: Not only is glory ephemeral, but it also comes at a price. The — Joel Dicker

Marcus, do you know what is the only way to know how much you love someone?
No.
By losing them. — Joel Dicker

How does one become a writer, Harry?
By never giving up. You know, Marcus, that freedom-the desire for freedom-is a war in itself. We live in a society of defeated office workers, and to get ourselves out of this fix, we must fight-against ourselves and against the whole world. Freedom is a constant battle of which we are barely even aware. I will never give up. — Joel Dicker

You have the moral courage to run a long way, in the rain, in the cold, if you have the strength to keep going until the end, to give it all you have and to reach your goal, then you're capable of writing a book. Never let fear or fatigue stop you. On the contrary: You should use them to help you keep going. — Joel Dicker

Maybe that's what love is: hoping that one day things will be better. — Joel Dicker

Two things can make life meaningful: books and love ... I already have books. Now I am setting off in search of love. — Joel Dicker

LEARN TO LOVE YOUR failures, Marcus, because it is your failures that will make you who you are. It is your failures that will give meaning to your victories. — Joel Dicker

A piece of writing is never good," he told me. "There is simply a moment when it is less bad than before. — Joel Dicker

Whenever she wasn't with me, there was an emptiness inside me, a feeling that something was missing, which I had never experienced before - as if, once she had entered my life, the world could no longer turn properly without her. — Joel Dicker

I don't know whether it's that writers are lonely or whether it's loneliness that makes them write — Joel Dicker

They tipped over. A light went on in the house, and Harry — Joel Dicker

Because writing gave meaning to my life. In case you haven't noticed, life generally — Joel Dicker

Find love, Marcus. Love gives life its meaning. You're stronger when you love. You're bigger. You go further. — Joel Dicker

That's good. You see, boxing and writing are very similar. You get in the guard position, you decide to throw yourself into battle, you lift your fists, and you hurl yourself at your opponent. A book is more or less the same. A book is a battle. — Joel Dicker

Don't worry about genius - just keep churning out the words. Genius comes naturally. — Joel Dicker

Friend, the cleaning lady, the bank clerk. But be careful: — Joel Dicker

Goldman, stop this nonsense, will you? I have looked at your file. I made a few phone calls. — Joel Dicker

THE FIRST CHAPTER, MARCUS, is essential. If the readers don't like it, they won't read the rest of your book. How do you plan to begin yours? — Joel Dicker

Don't write in the name of friendship. Write because it's the only way to make this tiny, insignificant thing we call life into a legitimate and rewarding experience — Joel Dicker

Love can hurt so much. All the same, you should not be afraid of falling, and especially not of falling in love, because love is also very beautiful. — Joel Dicker

Because you have to keep them on tenterhooks until the end. It's like when you're playing cards: you have to hold a few trump cards for the final part of the game. — Joel Dicker