--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only imaginative prose writer of the…" description: "\"The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg" --- # The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value… ![“The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg) > “The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.” [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. A criticism that only a few English prose writers possess true imagination and value. **In simple terms:** Few English writers are truly imaginative. Key Takeaway Seek authentic, imaginative writing. Themes literature criticism creativity Mood reflective analytical Type critical literary When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary criticism - creative education Key Concepts aesthetic value literary standards Questions to Reflect On - What defines true imagination in prose? - How can we broaden literary appreciation? A Different Perspective Recognition may overlook other deserving writers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [English speaking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-speaking/) [Imaginative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-past/) ## Related quotes > [I always say that a poet loves the world, and the prose writer needs to create an alternative world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-always-say-that-a-poet-loves-the-world-and-the-prose-writer-needs/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I certainly derived my skills as a prose writer from my scrutiny of poetry and of the individual word. But schools don't do things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-certainly-derived-my-skills-as-a-prose-writer-from-my-scrutiny-of/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [A prose writer gets tired of writing prose, and wants to be a poet. So he begins every line with a capital letter, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-mcchord-crothers/a-prose-writer-gets-tired-of-writing-prose-and-wants-to-be-a-poet-so/) [Samuel McChord Crothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-mcchord-crothers/) > [I'm not as good a prose writer as I'd like to be, but I never aspired to that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-waid/i-m-not-as-good-a-prose-writer-as-i-d-like-to-be-but-i-never-aspired/) [Mark Waid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-waid/) > [“I believe you can consider yourself a successful prose writer when the number of words you put on a page each day is equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/i-believe-you-can-consider-yourself-a-successful-prose-writer-when/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [Considerations of plot do a great deal of heavy lifting when it comes to long-form narrative - readers will overlook the most ham-fisted prose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-coady/considerations-of-plot-do-a-great-deal-of-heavy-lifting-when-it-comes/) [Lynn Coady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-coady/) > [Don't scatter your fire! You are a prose writer: stick to your own tool!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-orne-jewett/don-t-scatter-your-fire-you-are-a-prose-writer-stick-to-your-own-tool/) [Sarah Orne Jewett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-orne-jewett/) > [As a prose writer, I work with language; and those who work with language turn to poetry for renewal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/as-a-prose-writer-i-work-with-language-and-those-who-work-with/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“I do very emphatically believe there is an enormous amount of the androgynous in any all-or-nothing prose writer, or even a would-be one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-do-very-emphatically-believe-there-is-an-enormous-amount-of-the/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [I wanted to be a writer. I still want to be a prose writer. I feel I am more temperamentally suited to that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliana-hatfield/i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-i-still-want-to-be-a-prose-writer-i-feel-i-am/) [Juliana Hatfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliana-hatfield/) > [There is probably no finer prose writer alive in Britain now, no-one better at making a sentence, no-one better at descriptive writing, no-one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-grant/there-is-probably-no-finer-prose-writer-alive-in-britain-now-no-one/) [Linda Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-grant/) > [Poetry creates the myth, the prose writer draws its portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/poetry-creates-the-myth-the-prose-writer-draws-its-portrait/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [ According to \[Maxine Hong\] Kingston, the prose writer is "a workhorse." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/according-to-maxine-hong-kingston-the-prose-writer-is-a-workhorse/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [There have been ups and downs over the years, but that's in the past, and now I'm just looking forward and focussed on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-rodwell/there-have-been-ups-and-downs-over-the-years-but-that-s-in-the-past/) [Jack Rodwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-rodwell/) > [In years past, comedy and fashion just haven't often gone hand in hand, so even though I love it, it wasn't something I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ego-nwodim/in-years-past-comedy-and-fashion-just-haven-t-often-gone-hand-in-hand/) [Ego Nwodim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ego-nwodim/) ## 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 English speaking quotes > [“Academic philosophers in the English speaking world still regard philosophy as Locke defined it in the 17th century, as “the handmaiden of the sciences”:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/academic-philosophers-in-the-english-speaking-world-still-regard/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [In 1965, when great young white artists in the English-speaking world were successfully re-channeling hillbilly and black music - you know Bob Dylan, Ray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/in-1965-when-great-young-white-artists-in-the-english-speaking-world/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [I would love to occasionally do English-speaking films, but the script is as important for me as the director.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-tautou/i-would-love-to-occasionally-do-english-speaking-films-but-the-script/) [Audrey Tautou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-tautou/) > [There were a lot of unique challenges in producing the film, such as the logistical issues inherent in producing a long-term verite film in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/there-were-a-lot-of-unique-challenges-in-producing-the-film-such-as/) [Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/) > [Who'd want to be a modernist writer in the English-speaking world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/who-d-want-to-be-a-modernist-writer-in-the-english-speaking-world/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [The only way I thought I could do a greatest hits album is to do it in a prison where they have no f\*\*king…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/the-only-way-i-thought-i-could-do-a-greatest-hits-album-is-to-do-it/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [One thing we do know is that mass literacy is a product of the 19th century, at least in English-speaking cultures - Ireland, England,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-thing-we-do-know-is-that-mass-literacy-is-a-product-of-the-19th/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [It is always a taut moment in a foreign country waiting to see if your English-speaking guide speaks English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/it-is-always-a-taut-moment-in-a-foreign-country-waiting-to-see-if/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [The idea of sovereignty current in the English speaking world of the 1760's was scarcely more than a century old. It had first emerged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-bailyn/the-idea-of-sovereignty-current-in-the-english-speaking-world-of-the/) [Bernard Bailyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-bailyn/) > [When an international news organization covers a story in Somalia, Yemen, Sudan or wherever, they will fly a crew to go there, spend a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wadah-khanfar/when-an-international-news-organization-covers-a-story-in-somalia/) [Wadah Khanfar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wadah-khanfar/) > [Most English-speaking people, for instance, will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and its spelling). More beautiful than,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/most-english-speaking-people-for-instance-will-admit-that-cellar-door/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [I hope the English-speaking world can see that I'm not only an Israeli actress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hani-furstenberg/i-hope-the-english-speaking-world-can-see-that-i-m-not-only-an/) [Hani Furstenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hani-furstenberg/) > [James Joyce's English was based on the rhythm of the Irish language. 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I haven't had time to visit the theatre, but I find it remarkable that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/it-s-a-beautiful-city-and-the-waterfront-area-is-fantastic-i-haven-t/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) [Browse all 70 English speaking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-speaking/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the-slightest-value-who-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "English speaking" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the-slightest-value-who-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/george-orwell-57_english-speaking_the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the_1055464.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races…” — George Orwell", "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": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The only imaginative prose writer of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the-slightest-value-who-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-imaginative-prose-writer-of-the-slightest-value-who-has/#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 } } ] } ```