Literature Quotes

"In literature, we find ourselves reflected in the lives of others."

"The duty of the novelist is to show the depths beneath the surface of life."

"The greatest monument a people can build is their literature."

"The writer's duty is not to please but to illuminate."

"Literary criticism is really only a form of gossip elevated."

"The writer is the Faustus of modern times. His heart is his fortune and his ruin."

"The great work of a writer is not to express what he thinks, but to reveal what he did not know he thought."

"What makes a work of literature great is its refusal to offer easy answers."

"A writer must be willing to betray everyone, including himself, for the sake of truth."

"The task of the writer is to pluck the soul from obscurity and drag it into the light."

"Literature is the memory of a nation, and without it we lose ourselves."

"The writer who exposes evil becomes a threat to those who profit from concealment."

"The greatest power is the power to affect the human heart through words."

"The writer is the witness whose testimony shapes the conscience of the age."

"A poem grows from the soil of unbearable truth."

"Words have power only when they come from the depths of feeling."

"The written word outlives the spoken promise."

"The voice of poetry breaks through the silence of the forgotten."

"Words are the only weapons available to those who suffer."

"The written word is immortal; the spoken word fades away."

"The greatest literature holds up a mirror to the soul."

"Literature opens windows to other worlds."

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

"Satire is a lesson, parody is a game."

"You can't tell a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot by its first sentence."

"All my stories are gay—in the classical sense of the word."

"Nothing jars the eye and nothing jars the soul quite like a literary masterpiece."

"A novelist is essentially a manufacturer of souls."

"One should love books before one loves life."

"The critic is an outsider pretending to be an insider."