"

All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a ...more

"

At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.

"

Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. One cannot ch...more

"

To write or even speak English is not a science but an art. There are no reliable words. Whoever writes English is involved in a struggle that never l...more

"

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not ...more

"

From ... the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer. ... I tried to abandon this idea, but I did so with the consciousnes...more

"

Good novel are written by people who are not frightened.

"

Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.

"

The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims one turns as if it were instinctivel...more

"

Good prose should be transparent, like a window pane.

"

I do not wish to comment on the work; if it does not speak for itself, it is a failure.

"

What can the England of 1940 have in common with the England of 1840? But then, what have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your m...more

"

I do not think one can assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age ...more

"

Good writing is like a windowpane.

"

If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.