Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, read more

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, and always count their change when it is handed to them.

There's one good kind of writer -- a dead one.

There's one good kind of writer -- a dead one.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

In judging others, folks will work overtime for no pay.

In judging others, folks will work overtime for no pay.

I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing.

I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing.

Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion.

Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion.

Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.

Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He read more

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men.