5th January: Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco, the writer whose most famous book is Name of the Rose. was born on this date in 1932. Here are ten Umberto Eco quotes.

1. Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another's fear.
2. The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.
3. Because of lies, we can produce and invent a possible world.
4. When one starts writing a book, especially a novel, even the humblest person in the world hopes to become Homer.
5. Beauty is boring because it is predictable.
6. I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.
7. Absence is to love as wind is to fire: it extinguishes the little flame, it fans the big.
8. When you are on the dancefloor, there is nothing to do but dance.
9. Love is wiser than wisdom.
10. When the writer (or the artist in general) says he has worked without giving any thought to the rules of the process, he simply means he was working without realising he knew the rules.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.