William Landay Quotes

The people who think I'm famous are knitters. Most of my life, I'm wildly unrecognized.

There's lots of things that can't make it in the world that are worth making. There are lots of great artists who never make it, there are lots of great writers who don't get published - is it still worthwhile? Aren't we glad people are still doing it?

There're so many great writers out there who aren't getting the exposure they deserve.

A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.

Teenagers are some of the most passionate, dynamic and creative people I know. Yet, too often, this creative spark is left to flicker precariously and sometimes fade entirely.

A lot of great authors are published before their time. That's not wrong; it's just the way it works.

The past is full of examples of renegade writers who were overlooked in their time not only because their work didn't fit neatly into potted categories but also because they avoided the self-promotional efforts of their peers.

I just want to keep laying down really great, strong characters, and the more I go unrecognized, the better job I feel I'm doing.

I don't want to be famous. I want to tell stories.

The truly great books are always novels: 'Anna Karenina,' 'The Brothers Karamazov,' 'The Magic Mountain.' Just as with 'Shahnameh,' I browse these books from time to time to remember how a great book works on us or to teach my students at Columbia University.

I would rather write or record something great and have it overlooked than do mediocre work and have it be popular.

Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people.

I believe if you write a great book, the chances are it'll get a great reception.

There are thousands of very, very talented artists who will never be known, even after they are dead.

Lost in a crowd of greats, not a single Oscar. That's showbiz.

The myth that everyone once read great literature is just a myth.

I think 'Gatsby' is hobbled, in part, by its status as a Great American Novel. People kind of roll their eyes before they've even opened it, treat it with a 'been there, done that' attitude. I know I did. It took me years to re-open the novel and see how much I'd missed.

Quite often I can be in a bookshop, standing beneath a great big picture of myself and paying for a book with a credit card clearly marked John Grisham, yet no one recognises me. I often say I'm a famous author in a country where no one reads.

It's no good being great in something that goes straight to video.

I've got beautiful reviews for all my books, and I'm very well thought of in the tiny circles that know me, but I'm really starving.

I was never the star of my team, not even in my small town.

Some superior minds are unrecognized because there is no standard by which to weigh them.

Poets are supposed to be underappreciated, don't you know? There is always a strange reaction to those who become successful in their own lifetime, and so I always felt lucky that I made the living I did out of it.

I always thought of myself as a very, very obscure artist.

I am just saying people can be successful even though they might not be well known.