The only virtue a character needs to possess between hardcovers, even if he bears a real person's name, is vitality: if he comes to life in our imaginations, he passes the test.

Quote by Stephen Vizinczey

Topics: Stephen Vizinczey Quotes

People will either like you for your money or they'll resent you for having it.....

People will either like you for your money or they'll resent you for having it.....

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.

Dictatorship is a constant lecture instructing you that your feelings, your thoughts and desires are...

Dictatorship is a constant lecture instructing you that your feelings, your thoughts and desires are...

Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education...

Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education...

The truth is that our race survived ignorance; it is our scientific genius that will...

The truth is that our race survived ignorance; it is our scientific genius that will...

We now have a whole culture based on the assumption that people know nothing and...

We now have a whole culture based on the assumption that people know nothing and...

Is it possible that I am not alone in believing that in the dispute between...

Is it possible that I am not alone in believing that in the dispute between...

Modesty is an excuse for sloppiness, laziness, self-indulgence; small ambitions evoke small efforts.

Modesty is an excuse for sloppiness, laziness, self-indulgence; small ambitions evoke small efforts.

Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify...

Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify...

Thy books should, like thy friends, not many be, yet such wherein men may thy...

Thy books should, like thy friends, not many be, yet such wherein men may thy...

The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its...

The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its...

I can look at [my books] with pleasure from a distance. Four feet is close...

I can look at [my books] with pleasure from a distance. Four feet is close...

Learning is the knowledge of that which is not generally known to others, and which...

Learning is the knowledge of that which is not generally known to others, and which...

What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now...

What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now...

Books cannot always please, however good; Minds are not ever craving for their food.

Books cannot always please, however good; Minds are not ever craving for their food.

The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into...

The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into...

We are as liable to be corrupted by books, as by companions.

We are as liable to be corrupted by books, as by companions.

When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him 12 ounces of paper...

When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him 12 ounces of paper...

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well...

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well...

Vereker's secret, my dear man - the general intention of his books: the string the...

Vereker's secret, my dear man - the general intention of his books: the string the...