"It is clear that a novel cannot..." - Quote by George Bernard Shaw

“I hope you have lost your good looks, for while they last any fool can adore you, and the adoration of fools is bad for the soul. No, give me a ruined complexion and a lost figure and sixteen chins on a farmyard of Crow's feet and an obvious wig. Then you shall see me coming out strong.”

“A photographer is like a cod, which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity.”

“Orchestras only need to be sworn at, and a German is consequently at an advantage with them, as English profanity, except in America, has not gone beyond a limited technology of perdition.”

“I admit that I haven't read everything in my library, but I feel smarter just walking in it!”

“Shut not your doors to me proud libraries.”

“Middlemarch, the magnificent book which with all its imperfections is one of the few English novels for grown-up people.”

“I object to publishers: the one service they have done me is to teach me to do without them. They combine commercial rascality with artistic touchiness and pettishness, without being either good business men or fine judges of literature.”

“Having books published is very destructive to writing.”

“Above all, a query letter is a sales pitch and it is the single most important page an unpublished writer will ever write. It's the first impression and will either open the door or close it. It's that important, so don't mess it up. Mine took 17 drafts and two weeks to write.”