William Ernest Henley Quotes

Was there ever such stuff as great as part of Shakespeare? Only one must not say so! But what think you? - What? - Is there not sad stuff? What? - What?

No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.

There is only one school of literature - that of talent.

Poetry is a pure meritocracy. There's no room for ambiguity: either a poem moves you and opens up new vistas in life, or it doesn't. It's completely objective, and the best always rise to the top.

A good novel is a good novel, pointe finale. And I think what I'm writing is exactly that.

Shakespeare would never have gone far in today's politically correct world.

A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as of the bonds of metre.

Great writers probably shouldn't be ranked, at least not by me.

I kept writing not because I felt I was so good, but because I felt they were so bad, including Shakespeare, all those. The stilted formalism, like chewing cardboard.

Shakespeare pulls on us and demands the best of us. You never successfully wrestle one of his plays to the ground and say, 'See? That's It!'

Any good writer is going to be well-received and is going to not be well-received; that's how you know you're a great writer.

One of the disconcerting things about writing for publication is that you're trying to clear your little parcel of land in a field where Taste is king - and, as we all know, there's no accounting for Taste.

The fact people think that when you sell a lot of books you are not a serious writer is a great insult to the readership. I get a little angry when people try to say such a thing.

The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.

The book may be garbage, but if it weighs in at a kilo or more, I stand before its author in awe.

A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.

Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.

If you are feeling something, then Shakespeare felt it and wrote about it - and wrote about it so eloquently.

Today, writers want to impress other writers.

If you had a million Shakespeares, could they write like a monkey?

This is not writing at all. Indeed, I could say that Shakespeare surpasses literature altogether, if I knew what I meant.

A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite.

What does Sinclair know about anything? He's just a writer.

Minor writers think style is all.

I have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now are - they sort of tap dance through it.