Literature quotes
4K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside literature — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"I cherish the review-as-literature; as lapidary journalism in the eighteenth-century mode, the last hard sparkling diamond in theessayists's tarnished crown. To me, writing a good review is not just a way to make extra money, but a sacred duty."
"I'm one of those writers who tends to be really good at making outlines and sticking to them. I'm very good at doing that, but I don't like it. It sort of takes a lot of the fun out."
"I loved writing a book in which, in some ways, it's very, very classical, and in some ways I'm breaking lots of rules about what you can do and what you can't do."
"I personally was driven to be an actor for the love of telling a story. It was very closely linked to being a reader as a kid and being transported by literature and art. It had nothing - zero - to do with anything resembling fame."
"You have to expect the raps when you have achieved popularity as a writer"
"My attitudes have changed, but somebody would have to read all my books to find out how they have"
"Isaac Singer was born in Poland and doesn't write in English. Still, he's an American."
"In Europe, a writer is supposed to improve up until he's about 75"
"Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form"
"The writer works in a lonely way."
"Writing is finally play, and there's no reason why you should get paid for playing"
"I cringe when critics say I'm a master of the popular novel. What's an unpopular novel?"
"Curiously, the United States is full of writers who have one big work in their life and that's all."
"All writers are the same - they forget a thousand good reviews and remember one bad one."
"I reach my readers regardless of what the critics have written"
"A writer is a human being. He has to live with a sense of honor."
"I never show anything to anybody until I've finished it"
"As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else for us to learn, except possibly algebra."
"If I might control the literature of the household, I would guarantee the well-being of Church and State."
"Now, if they're there to talk about something specifically, and I determine through my own editorial judgment, that another area isn't germane, or isn't an important part of it, that's something else. But we never agree to anything in advance, absolutely not."
