Maxwell Perkins

Writing, like drawing is an art, and whatever conveys the meaning is justified.

— Maxwell Perkins

Editors are extremely fallible people, all of them. Don't put too much trust in them.

— Maxwell Perkins

If you are not discouraged about your writing on a regular basis, you may not be trying hard enough. Any challenging pursuit…

— Maxwell Perkins

What we publishers think is that our function is to bring everything out into the open, on the theory that we have…

— Maxwell Perkins

Of the whole public not a handful can understand the artist's point of view or the writer's conscience.

— Maxwell Perkins

It is those people who know that they are right because some outside or higher power conveys the conviction to them who…

— Maxwell Perkins

I do not think you should read about writing while you are writing.

— Maxwell Perkins

It often puzzles me when people think that matters connected with sex ought to be suppressed. Sex itself cannot be suppressed, and…

— Maxwell Perkins

For real self esteem is not derived from the great things you've done, the things you won. The mark you've made -…

— Maxwell Perkins

You have to throw yourself away when you write.

— Maxwell Perkins

The book belongs to the author.

— Maxwell Perkins

I do not think anyone can read War and Peace too much. I read it six times...

— Maxwell Perkins

Writing a novel is a very hard thing to do because it covers so long a space of time, and if you…

— Maxwell Perkins

I believe the writer... should always be the final judge. I have always held to that position and have sometimes seen books…

— Maxwell Perkins

Every good thing that comes is accompanied by trouble.

— Maxwell Perkins

“Just get it down on paper, and then we’ll see what to do with it.”

— Maxwell Perkins

Learn about writing from reading. That is the right way to do it.

— Maxwell Perkins

Anybody can find out if he is a writer. If he were a writer, when he tried to write of some particular…

— Maxwell Perkins

You can’t know a book until you come to the end of it, and then all the rest must be modified to…

— Maxwell Perkins

You are all right on time, except for the fact that time is the enemy of us all, and especially of the…

— Maxwell Perkins