--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is almost impossible to get a novel…" description: "\"“It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which anybody, however narrow..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/grant-allen-37074_books_it-is-almost-impossible-to-get-a-novel-p_740666.jpg" --- # It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an… ![“It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which anybody, however narrow, could possibly object, on any ground whatever, religious, political, social, moral or aesthetic. The romance that appeals to your average editor…” quote by Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/grant-allen-37074_books_it-is-almost-impossible-to-get-a-novel-p_740666.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/grant-allen-37074_books_it-is-almost-impossible-to-get-a-novel-p_740666.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/grant-allen-37074_books_it-is-almost-impossible-to-get-a-novel-p_740666.jpg) > ““It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which anybody, however narrow, could possibly object, on any ground whatever, religious, political, social, moral or aesthetic. The romance that appeals to your average editor must say or hint at nothing at all which is not universally believed and received by everybody, everywhere in this realm of Britain.”” [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Publishing a novel in an English journal required complete neutrality, avoiding any contentious content that could offend any reader. **In simple terms:** Neutrality is needed for publication. Key Takeaway Aim for universal appeal. Themes literature publishing neutrality controversy Mood critical analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - academic publishing - creative writing - media strategy - cultural analysis Key Concepts censorship public opinion editorial standards Questions to Reflect On - How does neutrality affect literary innovation? - Is it possible to address controversial topics without alienating readers? A Different Perspective Risk of stifling artistic expression and critical discourse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic-romance-5783148/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [English Journal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-journal-5783146/) [Impossible Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-novel-2360304/) [Novel Printed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-printed-5242288/) [Romance Appeals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance-appeals-5783147/) ## Related quotes > [It is rare and almost impossible for a novel to have only one narrator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/it-is-rare-and-almost-impossible-for-a-novel-to-have-only-one-narrator/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“It doesn't matter how a novel was printed. What matters are the words in between the pages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-bianco/it-doesn-t-matter-how-a-novel-was-printed-what-matters-are-the-words/) [Giuseppe Bianco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-bianco/) > [A novel is a printed circuit through which flows the force of a reader's own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-novel-is-a-printed-circuit-through-which-flows-the-force-of-a/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) ## More by Grant Allen > [“if people begin by thinking rationally, the danger is that they may end by acting rationally also.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/if-people-begin-by-thinking-rationally-the-danger-is-that-they-may/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“If there is an injustice or a barbarity possible, I might have been sure the law of England would make haste to perpetrate it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/if-there-is-an-injustice-or-a-barbarity-possible-i-might-have-been/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [What we each fall in love with individually is, I believe, our moral, mental, and physical complement. Not our like, not our counterpart; quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/what-we-each-fall-in-love-with-individually-is-i-believe-our-moral/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Professional considerations made the Dean refrain from endorsing this open expression of murderous sentiment in its fullest form; a clergyman ought always to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/professional-considerations-made-the-dean-refrain-from-endorsing-this/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [What a misfortune it is that we should thus be compelled to let our boys schooling interfere with their education!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/what-a-misfortune-it-is-that-we-should-thus-be-compelled-to-let-our/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Philip owned a looking-glass, and was therefore accustomed to a very high standard of manly beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/philip-owned-a-looking-glass-and-was-therefore-accustomed-to-a-very/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Now, nothing annoys an angry savage or an uneducated person so much as the perfect coolness of a civilized and cultivated man when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/now-nothing-annoys-an-angry-savage-or-an-uneducated-person-so-much-as/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“In fact, in this modern England of ours, this fatherland of snobdom, one passes one's life in a see-saw of doubt, between the Scylla…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/in-fact-in-this-modern-england-of-ours-this-fatherland-of-snobdom-one/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“I beg your pardon," Philip interposed stiffly, now put upon his mettle. "We have no taboos at all in England. ... England, you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/i-beg-your-pardon-philip-interposed-stiffly-now-put-upon-his-mettle/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“They were savages, yet they were ghosts. The two most terrible and dreaded foes of civilised experience seemed combined at once in them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/they-were-savages-yet-they-were-ghosts-the-two-most-terrible-and/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“A bullet would perhaps be an unnecessarily severe form of punishment to mete out; but I confess I could excuse the man who was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/a-bullet-would-perhaps-be-an-unnecessarily-severe-form-of-punishment/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) [Explore all 12 Grant Allen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which anybody, however narrow, could possibly object, on any ground whatever, religious, political, social, moral or aesthetic. 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