--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In reality there is no kind of evidence…" description: "\"“In reality there is no kind of evidence or argument by which one can show that Shakespeare, or any other writer, is \"good\". Nor is there any way of de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/george-orwell-57_literary-merit_in-reality-there-is-no-kind-of-evidence_2587519.jpg" --- # In reality there is no kind of evidence or argument by… ![“In reality there is no kind of evidence or argument by which one can show that Shakespeare, or any other writer, is "good". Nor is there any way of definitely proving that--for instance--Warwick Beeping is "bad". Ultimately there is no test of literary merit except survival, which is itself an…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/george-orwell-57_literary-merit_in-reality-there-is-no-kind-of-evidence_2587519.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/george-orwell-57_literary-merit_in-reality-there-is-no-kind-of-evidence_2587519.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/george-orwell-57_literary-merit_in-reality-there-is-no-kind-of-evidence_2587519.jpg) > ““In reality there is no kind of evidence or argument by which one can show that Shakespeare, or any other writer, is "good". Nor is there any way of definitely proving that--for instance--Warwick Beeping is "bad". Ultimately there is no test of literary merit except survival, which is itself an index to majority opinion.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literary value cannot be objectively proven; only lasting relevance and popular acceptance indicate merit. **In simple terms:** Literary merit is judged by lasting impact. Key Takeaway Value works that endure. Themes literature criticism subjectivity survival popularity Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - reading classics - literary analysis - teaching curricula Key Concepts cultural canon longevity Questions to Reflect On - What makes a work endure? - How to recognize merit beyond popularity? A Different Perspective May ignore innovative but unpopular works. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) ## Related quotes > [There's no literary merit in my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-cussler/there-s-no-literary-merit-in-my-books/) [Clive Cussler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-cussler/) > [ A critical assumption is sometimes made that \[Grisham, Clancey, Crichton & myself\] have access to some mystical vulgate that other (and often better) writers… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/a-critical-assumption-is-sometimes-made-that-grisham-clancey-crichton/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [...book-buyers aren't attracted, by and large, by the literary merits of a novel: book-buyers want a good story...something that will first fascinate them, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/book-buyers-aren-t-attracted-by-and-large-by-the-literary-merits-of-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-man-of-letters-merely-by-reading-a-phrase-can-estimate-exactly-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [There is no test of literary merit except survival, which is itself an index to majority opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/there-is-no-test-of-literary-merit-except-survival-which-is-itself-an/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/they-say-the-test-of-literary-power-is-whether-a-man-can-write-an/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [ They say the test of \[literary power\] is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, "Can he name a kitten?" And by… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/they-say-the-test-of-literary-power-is-whether-a-man-can-write-an-2/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“There’s plenty of serious stuff that works to cord the muscles of literary merit. But”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/there-s-plenty-of-serious-stuff-that-works-to-cord-the-muscles-of/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [“There’s nothing more important than literary merit, and that’s why I not only created an award—the Julius Caesar Author of the Year Award—but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/there-s-nothing-more-important-than-literary-merit-and-that-s-why-i/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [It's hard to judge literary merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/it-s-hard-to-judge-literary-merit/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Truth is, every writer has to be a good editor, and you have to edit yourself. It's a skill every writer has to acquire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-scottoline/truth-is-every-writer-has-to-be-a-good-editor-and-you-have-to-edit/) [Lisa Scottoline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-scottoline/) > [“One ought not to fall in love with someone by way of their writing. One must be especially careful if the writing is good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-juska/one-ought-not-to-fall-in-love-with-someone-by-way-of-their-writing/) Jane Juska > [Being a writer is a good, good thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/being-a-writer-is-a-good-good-thing/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [You can't be a good writer without being a good thinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/you-can-t-be-a-good-writer-without-being-a-good-thinker/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [“Honestly,” he says, “I judge writers on how they write queries. If you’re a good writer, you’re a good writer.” And if not, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-gessen/honestly-he-says-i-judge-writers-on-how-they-write-queries-if-you-re/) [Keith Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-gessen/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Literary merit quotes > [A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-man-of-letters-merely-by-reading-a-phrase-can-estimate-exactly-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [There's no literary merit in my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-cussler/there-s-no-literary-merit-in-my-books/) [Clive Cussler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-cussler/) > [...book-buyers aren't attracted, by and large, by the literary merits of a novel: book-buyers want a good story...something that will first fascinate them, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/book-buyers-aren-t-attracted-by-and-large-by-the-literary-merits-of-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [ A critical assumption is sometimes made that \[Grisham, Clancey, Crichton & myself\] have access to some mystical vulgate that other (and often better) writers… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/a-critical-assumption-is-sometimes-made-that-grisham-clancey-crichton/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It's hard to judge literary merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/it-s-hard-to-judge-literary-merit/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“There’s nothing more important than literary merit, and that’s why I not only created an award—the Julius Caesar Author of the Year Award—but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/there-s-nothing-more-important-than-literary-merit-and-that-s-why-i/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“There’s plenty of serious stuff that works to cord the muscles of literary merit. But”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/there-s-plenty-of-serious-stuff-that-works-to-cord-the-muscles-of/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [There is no test of literary merit except survival, which is itself an index to majority opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/there-is-no-test-of-literary-merit-except-survival-which-is-itself-an/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) Browse all 9 Literary merit quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In reality there is no kind of evidence or argument by which one can show that Shakespeare, or any other writer, is \"good\". Nor is there any way of definitely proving that--for instance--Warwick Beeping is \"bad\". 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