---
title: "2 1920s Quotes By Malcolm Cowley"
description: "2 1920s quotes by Malcolm Cowley. Plus more from Malcolm Cowley and more 1920s sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/malcolm-cowley-25549_1920s_everywhere-was-the-atmosphere-of-a-long_122618.jpg"
---

> [“Everywhere was the atmosphere of a long debauch that had to end; the orchestras played too fast, the stakes were too high at the gambling tables, the players were so empty, so tired, secretly hoping to vanish together into sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/everywhere-was-the-atmosphere-of-a-long-debauch-that-had-to-end-the/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/malcolm-cowley-25549_1920s_everywhere-was-the-atmosphere-of-a-long_122618.jpg)

> [“The late 1920s were an age of islands, real and metaphorical. They were an age when Americans by thousands and tens of thousands were scheming to take the next boat for the South Seas or the West Indies, or better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/the-late-1920s-were-an-age-of-islands-real-and-metaphorical-they-were/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/malcolm-cowley-25549_1920s_the-late-1920s-were-an-age-of-islands-re_2559957.png)

## More by Malcolm Cowley

> [“There would seem to be four stages in the composition of a story. First comes the germ of the story, then a period of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/there-would-seem-to-be-four-stages-in-the-composition-of-a-story/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [First New York was a sort of provincial capital, bigger and richer than Manchester or Marseilles, but not much different in its essential spirit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/first-new-york-was-a-sort-of-provincial-capital-bigger-and-richer/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [“Everywhere was the atmosphere of a long debauch that had to end; the orchestras played too fast, the stakes were too high at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/everywhere-was-the-atmosphere-of-a-long-debauch-that-had-to-end-the/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Authors are sometimes like tomcats: They distrust all the other toms but they are kind to kittens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/authors-are-sometimes-like-tomcats-they-distrust-all-the-other-toms/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Writing offers fairly large rewards to a few successful people, but the rewards come late, and most writers are failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/writing-offers-fairly-large-rewards-to-a-few-successful-people-but/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [“They were learning that New York had another life, too — subterranean, like almost everything that was human in the city — a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/they-were-learning-that-new-york-had-another-life-too-subterranean/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [The germ of a story is a new and simple element introduced into an existing situation or mood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/the-germ-of-a-story-is-a-new-and-simple-element-introduced-into-an/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Age is not different from earlier life as long as youre sitting down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/age-is-not-different-from-earlier-life-as-long-as-youre-sitting-down/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [They tell you that you'll lose your mind when you grow older. What they don't tell you is that you won't miss it very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/they-tell-you-that-you-ll-lose-your-mind-when-you-grow-older-what/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [In matters like writing and painting, a man does what he has to do - if he has to write, why then, he writes;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/in-matters-like-writing-and-painting-a-man-does-what-he-has-to-do-if/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [It is the fear of being as dependent as a young child, while not being loved as a child is loved, but merely being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/it-is-the-fear-of-being-as-dependent-as-a-young-child-while-not-being/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [I never cease to be amazed why some of my friends became famous and others, just as talented, didn't. I've come to suspect it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/i-never-cease-to-be-amazed-why-some-of-my-friends-became-famous-and/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Going back to Hemingway's work after several years is like going back to a brook where you had often fished and finding the woods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/going-back-to-hemingway-s-work-after-several-years-is-like-going-back/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Be kind and considerate with your criticism... It's just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/be-kind-and-considerate-with-your-criticism-it-s-just-as-hard-to/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

> [Talent is what you possess; genius is what possesses you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-cowley/talent-is-what-you-possess-genius-is-what-possesses-you/)

[Malcolm Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-cowley/)

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