--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is, in fact, not much point in…" description: "\"There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg" --- # There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel… ![“There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters.” quote by Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg) > “There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters.” [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A novel should illustrate moral growth or wisdom in its main characters to be worthwhile. **In simple terms:** Stories need moral change to matter. Key Takeaway Show character development. Themes literature morality character development Mood thoughtful serious Type literary didactic When to use this quote - writing - teaching - personal reflection Key Concepts ethical growth philosophical insight Questions to Reflect On - How does your story’s protagonist evolve? - What wisdom emerges from conflict? A Different Perspective A novel can be entertaining without moral depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Chiefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chiefs/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can-2/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“The moral transformation of individuals engaged in economic transactions tend to become, for example, the answer to economic problems: if only our greedy CEOs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-tanner/the-moral-transformation-of-individuals-engaged-in-economic/) [Kathryn Tanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-tanner/) > [Every increase in knowledge requires an increase in wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/every-increase-in-knowledge-requires-an-increase-in-wisdom/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Increase in me that wisdom Which discovers my truest interest, Strengthen my resolution To perform that which wisdom dictates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/increase-in-me-that-wisdom-which-discovers-my-truest-interest/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The increase in wisdom can be measured precisely by the decrease in bile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-increase-in-wisdom-can-be-measured-precisely-by-the-decrease-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief... I'm not in the business of offending people. I find the books upholding certain values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-m-trying-to-undermine-the-basis-of-christian-belief-i-m-not-in-the/) [philip pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [O powerful goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/o-powerful-goodness-bountiful-father-merciful-guide-increase-in-me/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it; to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/and-conceiving-god-to-be-the-fountain-of-wisdom-i-thought-it-right/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Insignificant, is the loss of relatives, wealth and fame; The loss of wisdom is the greatest loss. 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Writing a novel for the first time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-harkness/after-20-years-of-writing-academic-prose-and-lectures-it-seems-very/) [Deborah Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-harkness/) > [If you're writing a novel, you're in a room for three or four years. There's not much coming in from the outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/if-you-re-writing-a-novel-you-re-in-a-room-for-three-or-four-years/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [When you're writing a novel, you spend four years sitting in your basement and a year waiting for the book to come out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/when-you-re-writing-a-novel-you-spend-four-years-sitting-in-your/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. —W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-wax/there-are-three-rules-for-writing-a-novel-unfortunately-no-one-knows/) [Wendy Wax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-wax/) ## More by Anthony Burgess > [If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/if-you-expect-the-worst-from-a-person-you-can-never-be-disappointed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/life-is-a-wretched-gray-saturday-but-it-has-to-be-lived-through/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although... he may be permitted to be an intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-novelist-should-not-be-too-intelligent-either-although-he-may-be/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“A man who serves language, however imperfectly, should always serve truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-man-who-serves-language-however-imperfectly-should-always-serve/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [All human life is here, but the Holy Ghost seems to be somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/all-human-life-is-here-but-the-holy-ghost-seems-to-be-somewhere-else/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Rome's just a city like anywhere else. A vastly overrated city, I'd say. It trades on belief just as Stratford trades on Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/rome-s-just-a-city-like-anywhere-else-a-vastly-overrated-city-i-d-say/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-important-thing-is-moral-choice-evil-has-to-exist-along-with-good/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Civilised my syphilised yarbles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/civilised-my-syphilised-yarbles/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The downtrodden are the great creators of slang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-downtrodden-are-the-great-creators-of-slang/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Without class differences, England would cease to be the living theatre it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/without-class-differences-england-would-cease-to-be-the-living/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, colour-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-ideal-reader-of-my-novels-is-a-lapsed-catholic-and-failed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [... A CLOCKWORK ORANGE- and I said: 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-clockwork-orange-and-i-said-that-s-a-fair-gloopy-title-who-ever/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A work of fiction should be, for its author, a journey into the unknown, and the prose should convey the difficulties of the journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-work-of-fiction-should-be-for-its-author-a-journey-into-the-unknown/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? If lewdies are good that's because they like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/they-don-t-go-into-what-is-the-cause-of-goodness-so-why-of-the-other/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/by-definition-a-human-being-is-endowed-with-free-will-he-can-use-this/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) [Explore all 261 Anthony Burgess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Burgess" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/anthony-burgess-1167_books_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_1157808.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral…” — Anthony Burgess", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anthony Burgess", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is, in fact, not much...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```