Five Favourite Pen Quotes

This morning the promised fountain pen arrived on my doorstep. Joy, rapture, et cetera. It looks like this, if you’re curious.

In honour of this auspicious day (auspicious: from the Latin, meaning good-looking entrails), here are a few of my favourite quotes about writers and their pens.

Browne, Henriette - A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch - Google Art Project

There is neither lighter burden, nor more agreeable, than a pen.
Petrarch

I’m not happy unless I have a pen in my hand, it’s really that simple.
Anthony Horowitz

Chicken at Riverdale Farm April 2012

A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.
J.R.R. Tolkien

My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.
Graham Greene

The writing master thomas eakins

In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write.
Pearl S. Buck

Quote: Love and Duty

Ringing the Bell (7085979399)

Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.
W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil