--- title: "1 Character Knows Quotes By John Gardner" description: "1 Character Knows quotes by John Gardner. Plus more from John Gardner and more Character Knows sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/john-gardner-3092_failure_no-fiction-can-have-real-interest-if-the_2236978.jpg" --- > [“No fiction can have real interest if the central character is not an agent struggling for his or her own goals but a victim, subject to the will of others. (Failure to recognize that the central character must act, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/no-fiction-can-have-real-interest-if-the-central-character-is-not-an-2/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/john-gardner-3092_failure_no-fiction-can-have-real-interest-if-the_2236978.jpg) ## More by John Gardner > [“All to often, on the long road up, young leaders become servants of what is rather than shapers of what might be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/all-to-often-on-the-long-road-up-young-leaders-become-servants-of/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. But I have lived, And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/when-i-was-a-child-i-truly-loved-unthinking-love-as-calm-and-deep-as/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“They only think they think. No total vision, total system, merely schemes with a vague family resemblance, no more identity than bridges and, say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/they-only-think-they-think-no-total-vision-total-system-merely/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice is virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/except-in-stock-locutions-such-as-you-were-paid-yesterday-the-germans/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“The instruction here is not for every kind of writer - not for the writer of nurse books or thrillers or porno or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-instruction-here-is-not-for-every-kind-of-writer-not-for-the/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“Good writers may “tell” about almost anything in fiction except the characters’ feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/good-writers-may-tell-about-almost-anything-in-fiction-except-the/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“the chief offense in bad fiction: we sense that characters are being manipulated, forced to do things they would not really do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-chief-offense-in-bad-fiction-we-sense-that-characters-are-being/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“There seems little or no hope for the adult writer who produces sentences like these: "Her cheeks were thick and smooth and held a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/there-seems-little-or-no-hope-for-the-adult-writer-who-produces/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“In any long fiction, Henry James remarked, use of the first-person point of view is barbaric. James may go too far, but his point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/in-any-long-fiction-henry-james-remarked-use-of-the-first-person/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination than only writing about what you know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/nothing-can-be-more-limiting-to-the-imagination-than-only-writing/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [A nation that values bad philosophy above good plumbing will have neither good philosophy nor good plumbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/a-nation-that-values-bad-philosophy-above-good-plumbing-will-have/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. No one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-citizen-can-bring-our-political-and-governmental-institutions/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Talking, talking. Spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams, between myself and all I see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/talking-talking-spinning-a-web-of-words-pale-walls-of-dreams-between/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“In writing short stories—as in writing novels—take one thing at a time. (For some writers, this advice I'm giving may apply best to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/in-writing-short-stories-as-in-writing-novels-take-one-thing-at-a/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [All order, I've come to understand, is theoretical, unreal, a harmless, sensible, smiling mask men slide between the two great, dark realities, the self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/all-order-i-ve-come-to-understand-is-theoretical-unreal-a-harmless/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-knows/john-gardner/#itemlist", "name": "1 Character Knows Quotes By John Gardner", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No fiction can have real interest if the central character is not an agent struggling for his or her own goals but a victim, subject to the will of others. 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