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

Quote by Irwin Shaw

Topics: Irwin Shaw Quotes

I'm not as hopeful as I was when I was young.

I'm not as hopeful as I was when I was young.

My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever.

My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever.

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...

An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the...

An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the...

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...

I don't think that the writer is regarded as a freak by Americans.

I don't think that the writer is regarded as a freak by Americans.

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

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

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...

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

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

You must avoid giving hostages to fortune, like getting an expensive wife, an expensive house,...

You must avoid giving hostages to fortune, like getting an expensive wife, an expensive house,...

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...

You have to expect the raps when you have achieved popularity as a writer.

You have to expect the raps when you have achieved popularity as a writer.

Isaac Singer was born in Poland and doesn't write in English. Still, he's an American.

Isaac Singer was born in Poland and doesn't write in English. Still, he's an American.

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...

It's those damn critics again.

It's those damn critics again.

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

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

Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form.

Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form.

A writer has to live with a sense of honor.

A writer has to live with a sense of honor.

Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously,...

Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously,...

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...