Skip to content

Careful Quote by Graham Greene

“The economy of a novelist is a little like that of a careful housewife who is unwilling to throw away anything that might perhaps serve its turn.” quote by Graham Greene
Download Open image
“The economy of a novelist is a little like that of a careful housewife who is unwilling to throw away anything that might perhaps serve its turn.”

Graham Greene

About This Quote

Source Novel: *The End of the Affair* (1951) – commentary

A novelist’s mind hoards ideas like a housewife preserves items, hoping each may become useful later.

In simple terms: Writers keep ideas hoping they’ll be useful later.

Key Takeaway

Preserve ideas for future use.

Themes

creativity conservation anticipation

Mood

reflective pragmatic

Type

literary advice

When to use this quote

  • writing process
  • creative brainstorming

Key Concepts

memory resource management

Questions to Reflect On

  • How do you decide which ideas to keep?
  • What systems help you organize creative thoughts?
A Different Perspective

Holding onto too many ideas can stall progress.

2.9 out of 5 (4 ratings)

More by Graham Greene

Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes

More Careful quotes

Browse all 2,861 Careful quotes