You must avoid giving hostages to fortune, like getting an expensive wife, an expensive house, and a style of living that never lets you aford the time to take the chance to write what you wish.

Quote by Irwin Shaw

Topics: Irwin Shaw Quotes

The writer works in a lonely way.

The writer works in a lonely way.

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...

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.

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.

Curiously, the United States is full of writers who have one big work in their...

Curiously, the United States is full of writers who have one big work in their...

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

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

At the height of the McCarthy period, writers were being hounded.

At the height of the McCarthy period, writers were being hounded.

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...

My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever.

My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever.

My attitudes have changed, but somebody would have to read all my books to find...

My attitudes have changed, but somebody would have to read all my books to find...

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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...

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...

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...

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,...