Aim Quote by Donald Barthelme

“The aim of literature," Baskerville replied grandly, "is the creation of a strange object covered with fur which breaks your heart.”

— Donald Barthelme

The aim of literature ... is the creation of a strange object covered with fur which breaks your heart.

— Donald Barthelme

“Literature; not litterature.”

— Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick

“Reluctantly Bastian's thoughts turned back to reality. He was glad the Neverending Story had nothing to do with that. He didn't like books in…

— Michael Ende

“Bastian looked at the book. 'I wonder,' he said to himself, 'what's in a book while it's closed. Oh, I know it's full of…

— Michael Ende

The study of literature threatens to become a kind of paleontology of failure, and criticism a supercilious psychoanalysis of authors.

— John Updike

“The essence of writing? A hound chasing a fox: irrationally compelled to win the prize and eventual disappointment that it's eluded you.”

— Carol Morgan

Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of Human Nature. It fell dead-born from the press.

— David Hume

“Thus it has come about that our theoretical and critical literature, instead of giving plain, straightforward arguments in which the author at least always…

— Carl von Clausewitz

“The text contains no literary criticism. I wanted to describe books, not to be clever at their expense.”

— Kenneth McLeish

“Blanche Ingram, after having repelled, by supercilious taciturnity, some efforts of Mrs Dent and Mrs Eshton to draw her into conversation, had first murmured…

— Charlotte Bronte

“Literature is too full of 'acknowledgments' and squabbles about originality...”

— George Bernard Shaw