I am forced to say that I have many fiercer critics than myself.

Quote by Irwin Shaw

Topics: Irwin Shaw Quotes

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy...

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy...

I cringe when critics say I'm a master of the popular novel. What's an unpopular...

I cringe when critics say I'm a master of the popular novel. What's an unpopular...

I imagine that my characters have become much more complicated than when I first began,...

I imagine that my characters have become much more complicated than when I first began,...

In a novel, it's hard to keep track of everybody.

In a novel, it's hard to keep track of everybody.

The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always...

The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always...

There are too many books I haven't read, too many places I haven't seen, too...

There are too many books I haven't read, too many places I haven't seen, too...

Posterity makes the judgments. There are going to be a lot of surprises in store...

Posterity makes the judgments. There are going to be a lot of surprises in store...

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

Writing for the theater, you find yourself living a nocturnal life.

Writing for the theater, you find yourself living a nocturnal life.

If you're young enough, any kind of writing you do for a short period of...

If you're young enough, any kind of writing you do for a short period of...

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that...

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that...

A writer is a human being. He has to live with a sense of honor.

A writer is a human being. He has to live with a sense of honor.

The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I...

The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I...

My views naturally have mellowed. Most of the critics have been more or less nice...

My views naturally have mellowed. Most of the critics have been more or less nice...

In the theater, characters have to cut the umbilical cord from the writer and talk...

In the theater, characters have to cut the umbilical cord from the writer and talk...

It's those damn critics again.

It's those damn critics again.

I never drink while I'm working, but after a few glasses I get ideas that...

I never drink while I'm working, but after a few glasses I get ideas that...

Special-interest magazines are dangerous places for writers to start out in because the writing quickly...

Special-interest magazines are dangerous places for writers to start out in because the writing quickly...

I reach my readers regardless of what the critics have written.

I reach my readers regardless of what the critics have written.

I never show anything to anybody until I've finished it.

I never show anything to anybody until I've finished it.