There are too many books I haven't read, too many places I haven't seen, too many memories I haven't kept long enough.

Quote by Irwin Shaw

Topics: Books Quotes

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,...

The great writers just kept bringing them out. They didn't care if they repeated themselves.

The great writers just kept bringing them out. They didn't care if they repeated themselves.

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

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

All writers are the same - they forget a thousand good reviews and remember one...

All writers are the same - they forget a thousand good reviews and remember one...

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...

The writer works in a lonely way.

The writer works in a lonely way.

In America, we have the feeling of the doomed young artist. Fitzgerald was the great...

In America, we have the feeling of the doomed young artist. Fitzgerald was the great...

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

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

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...

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.

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...

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

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

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...

Kennedy was a man who liked writers and even I got invited to the White...

Kennedy was a man who liked writers and even I got invited to the White...

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

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

No writer need feel sorry for himself if he writes and enjoys it, even if...

No writer need feel sorry for himself if he writes and enjoys it, even if...

It's those damn critics again.

It's those damn critics again.

I haven't stuck to any formula. Most great writers stick to the same style, but...

I haven't stuck to any formula. Most great writers stick to the same style, but...

In Europe, a writer is supposed to improve up until he's about 75.

In Europe, a writer is supposed to improve up until he's about 75.