There are a lot of great quotes out there from business editors, journalists, and thought leaders. We’ve compiled some of our favorites to help entrepreneurs stay motivated and inspired. Whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for years, these quotes will help you stay focused on your goals and keep moving forward.

The best editor quotes

1. Growing a culture requires a good storyteller. Changing a culture requires a persuasive editor. — Ryan Lilly

2. There’s really only one good writing habit: You must write constantly. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

3. The traces to the East haven been broken, the Republican party will never again be dominated by the editorial writers for the New York Herald Tribune. Free at last. — William F. Buckley

4. Writing heals my heart like no pill ever could. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

5. Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we.’ — Mark Twain

6. Replace your old books with the books you’ve always wanted to write. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

7. When finally I mustered the courage to tell a novelist friend that I was talking to editors about a biography, her reply was, ‘Oh, that’s okay. That’s not a real book.’ — Stacy Schiff

8. When finally I mustered the courage to tell a novelist friend that I was talking to editors about a biography, her reply was, ‘Oh, that’s okay. That’s not a real book.’ — Stacy Schiff

9. If you want to know the value of a week ask the editor of a weekly magazine if he fails to meet up with the target of his weekly publication. — Sunday Adelaja

10. ‘i don’t like a kind of workshop that is about editing––I don’t want to sit there and be an editor. I don’t want to tell someone how to ”fix” a poem.’ — Natasha Trethewey

11. This editor is a critic. He has pulled out his carving–knife and his tomahawk and is starting after a book which he is going to have for breakfast. — Mark Twain

12. ‘is he crazy?”––Harcourt–Brace editor on Holden Caulfield’ — J.D. Salinger

13. Dr. Michael Rostafinski, and John Tebbel for advice and information; my wife and ‘first reader, ‘ Reade Johnson; and my editor at John Wiley, Hana Lane, for — Robert A. Carter

14. I was the editor of the school newspaper and in drama club and choir, so I was not a popular girl in the traditional sense, but I think I was known for being relatively scathing. — Tina Fey

15. Girls, we’re fiction editors––we know how to plot, and we know how to cover our tracks. We can teach Jerry Key a lesson he’ll never forget. — Stephanie Bond, Whole Lotta Trouble

16. Writing heals my heart like no pill ever could. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

17. Dr. Michael Rostafinski, and John Tebbel for advice and information; my wife and ‘first reader, ‘ Reade Johnson; and my editor at John Wiley, Hana Lane, for — Robert A. Carter

18. If the nineteenth century was the age of the editorial chair, ours is the century of the psychiatrist’s couch. — Marshall McLuhan

19. I tend to overwrite; I need a good editor. — Wolf Blitzer

20. Editorial photography has to be energetic and visually competitive. — Sam Abell

21. Don’t make the editor’s decision for her by not submitting. — Victoria Janssen

22. Through the act of writing, a writer learns more about himself than he could ever imagine. — Rob Bignell, Editor

23. Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

24. Every writer needs an editor. I don’t care how good you are or think you are. — Nora Roberts

25. Never demean yourself by talking back to a critic, never. Write those letters to the editor in your head, but don’t put them on paper. — Truman Capote

26. ‘is he crazy?”––Harcourt–Brace editor on Holden Caulfield’ — J.D. Salinger

27. Girls, we’re fiction editors––we know how to plot, and we know how to cover our tracks. We can teach Jerry Key a lesson he’ll never forget. — Stephanie Bond, Whole Lotta Trouble

28. If teachers and grammar school editors find my jawbreaker sentences shatter their mushmilk teeth, let them eat stale cake dunked in weak tea of their own ungodly manufacture. — Ray Bradbury

29. Don’t make the editor’s decision for her by not submitting. — Victoria Janssen

30. I think every writer should have tattooed backwards on his forehead, like ambulance on ambulances, the words ‘everybody needs an editor. — Michael Crichton

31. I can only assume that your editorial writer tripped over the First Amendment and thought it was the office cat. — E. B. White

32. Girls, we’re fiction editors––we know how to plot, and we know how to cover our tracks. We can teach Jerry Key a lesson he’ll never forget. — Stephanie Bond, Whole Lotta Trouble

33. Tradition in the nursery has acted as a severe editor. — Walter Jerrold

34. Tell me once more about the eternal surf. — Rob Bignell, Editor

35. I keep reminding people that an editorial in rhyme is not a song. A good song makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you think. — Pete Seeger

36. I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one. — Mark Twain

37. …you are a writer the moment you start writing, not when you’ve sold your first book. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

38. An unedited manuscript is a first draft of story — but is not a finished product. Too many writers study the craft of writing but do not acquire the skills of an editor.

39. I keep reminding people that an editorial in rhyme is not a song. A good song makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you think. — Pete Seeger

40. … when editors were flattered, they would sometimes give in on some of their mad ideas. — Stephen King, Misery

41. Editors are licensed to be curious. — William Zinsser

42. Far more thought and care go into the composition of any prominent ad in a newspaper or magazine than go into the writing of their features and editorials. — Marshall Mcluhan

43. An editor is someone who is paid to tell a writer what she thinks about how he wrote what he thinks about. — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

44. When finally I mustered the courage to tell a novelist friend that I was talking to editors about a biography, her reply was, ‘Oh, that’s okay. That’s not a real book.’ — Stacy Schiff

45. Every word I write is another stroke that takes me to the shore of a completed book. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

46. …you are a writer the moment you start writing, not when you’ve sold your first book. — Rob Bignell, Editor, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

47. The only people who should use the possessive ‘we’ are kings, newspaper editors, and persons with tapeworms. — Mark Twain

48. I think every writer should have tattooed backwards on his forehead, like ambulance on ambulances, the words ‘everybody needs an editor. — Michael Crichton

49. Say it new or say it straight. — Sol Stein, Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies

50. If teachers and grammar school editors find my jawbreaker sentences shatter their mushmilk teeth, let them eat stale cake dunked in weak tea of their own ungodly manufacture. — Ray Bradbury

Conclusion

Editor’s have an unappreciated and important job, and there have been many words of wisdom spoken about their profession. We hope that these quotes have given you a better appreciation for editors and the important work they do to make sure that all of our written work is top-notch. Whether you are an editor, a writer or a reader, these quotes can remind you of the importance of the editing process.