Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by George Bernard Shaw

Quote by George Bernard Shaw

“You may well ask me why...I took the time to write [books]. I can only reply that I do not know. There was no why about it. I had to: that was all.”

Quote by George Bernard Shaw

Create image

Author

George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 - November 2, 1950) was an Irish-British playwright, critic, and socialist. He is renowned for his satirical and witty dramatic works. more

You May Also Like

“Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It is no wonder if we sometimes tend to take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously.”

IfsNeedsWritingSometimesGrowsBitsWonderOur LivesHeardWake UpMake SenseVisibleDesperateEndeavor
Book:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Create image

“A cardinal rule of writing is never interrupt yourself to explain something. If you must bring up an obscure topic, drop informative hints about it as you go along so that you don't end up with the entire explanation all in one place. This keeps you from skidding to a stop and sounding teacherish. Otherwise it's better to omit the obscure topic altogether, or as mothers might put it: if you can't say it interestingly, don't say it at all.”

IfsWritingEndsMightMotherExplanationObscureTopicsHintsCardinalsInformativeCardinal Rules
Author:Florence King
Create image

“The nobility of our calling will always be rooted in two commitments difficult to observe: refusal to lie about what we know, and resistance to oppression.”

KnowsWritingTwoLyingDifficultCallingCommitmentResistanceOppressionRootedNobilityRefusal
Book:Speech of Acceptance Upon the Award of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Delivered in Stockholm on the Tenth of December, Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-seven. [Translated by Justin O'Brien
Create image

“I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism - of being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching for things we can steal and then pass off as our own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot from an aluminum crossbow.”

WritingReasonBitsReaderShotsMetaphorCleverStealingTargetTransitionThievesTerrifiedAccusedArrowsPlagiarismRobberySyntaxSeamlessAluminumBeing AccusedCrossbows
Author:Joseph Epstein
Create image