--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Adaptation of books is never a success…" description: "\"Adaptation of books is never a success. When the author wants to make it, it's even worse.\" — Marjane Satrapi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/marjane-satrapi-1702_adaptation_adaptation-of-books-is-never-a-success-w_980014.jpg" --- # Adaptation of books is never a success. When the author… ![“Adaptation of books is never a success. When the author wants to make it, it's even worse.” quote by Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/marjane-satrapi-1702_adaptation_adaptation-of-books-is-never-a-success-w_980014.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/marjane-satrapi-1702_adaptation_adaptation-of-books-is-never-a-success-w_980014.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/marjane-satrapi-1702_adaptation_adaptation-of-books-is-never-a-success-w_980014.jpg) > “Adaptation of books is never a success. When the author wants to make it, it's even worse.” [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adaptations often fail when creators prioritize profit over fidelity. **In simple terms:** Money can ruin faithful adaptations. Key Takeaway Prioritize artistic integrity over profit. Themes art film authenticity commercial pressure Mood critical analytical Type commentary opinion When to use this quote - movie remakes - book‑to‑screen projects - TV series adaptations Key Concepts adaptation theory creative control intellectual property Questions to Reflect On - Should creators compromise for audience? - Can profit and fidelity coexist? A Different Perspective Not all adaptations are profit‑driven. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adaptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) [Adaptation Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation-books-1939444/) [Author Wants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/author-wants-1939445/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Make Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-worse-402587/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse/) ## Related quotes > [The truth is that I know very few novelists who have been satisfied with the adaptation of their books for the screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/the-truth-is-that-i-know-very-few-novelists-who-have-been-satisfied/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [No sensible author wants anything but praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-milne/no-sensible-author-wants-anything-but-praise/) [A. A. Milne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-milne/) > [When the first-rate author wants an exquisite heroine or a lovely morning, he finds that all the superlatives have been worn shoddy by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/when-the-first-rate-author-wants-an-exquisite-heroine-or-a-lovely/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Books are nothing but repositories for those lies the author wants his reader to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/books-are-nothing-but-repositories-for-those-lies-the-author-wants/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [There's always a slight tension when you sell a book to Hollywood, especially a nonfiction book. The author wants his story told intact; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-burrough/there-s-always-a-slight-tension-when-you-sell-a-book-to-hollywood/) [Bryan Burrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-burrough/) > [“No matter how bad things are, you can always make them worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/no-matter-how-bad-things-are-you-can-always-make-them-worse/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [“If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-the-divine-call-does-not-make-us-better-it-will-make-us-very-much/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [When you take a man as he is, you make him worse. When you take a man as he can be, you make him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-you-take-a-man-as-he-is-you-make-him-worse-when-you-take-a-man/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/what-will-we-and-our-daughters-suffer-if-these-degraded-black-men-are/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [If it's a good work of adaptation, the book should remain a book and the film should remain a film, and you should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/if-it-s-a-good-work-of-adaptation-the-book-should-remain-a-book-and/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [There's no problem so awful that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/there-s-no-problem-so-awful-that-you-can-t-add-some-guilt-to-it-and/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [If you keep thinking over and over again what went wrong and what you could've done better, you're going to make it worse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-woodgate/if-you-keep-thinking-over-and-over-again-what-went-wrong-and-what-you/) [Jonathan Woodgate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-woodgate/) > [“Feelings can have a life of their own and you have very little direct control over them, except perhaps to make them worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-short/feelings-can-have-a-life-of-their-own-and-you-have-very-little-direct/) [Julian Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-short/) > [If religion does not make us better people, it will make us very much worse. And of all the bad men who have lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/if-religion-does-not-make-us-better-people-it-will-make-us-very-much/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [To try too hard to make people good is one way to make them worse. The only way to make them good is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/to-try-too-hard-to-make-people-good-is-one-way-to-make-them-worse-the/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) ## More by Marjane Satrapi > [I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-became-the-voice-of-a-generation-in-a-very-surprising-way-because/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [With live-action I think we'd have lost the universal appeal of the Persepolis story. With live-action, it would have turned into a story of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/with-live-action-i-think-we-d-have-lost-the-universal-appeal-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-like-the-word-autobiography-i-rather-like-the-term/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I don't think that I have ever been rebellious. The thing is that I don't believe in people - what people tell me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-think-that-i-have-ever-been-rebellious-the-thing-is-that-i/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Drawing is the first language of the human being before writing. It's a transcription of how the human being sees reality, not reality itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/drawing-is-the-first-language-of-the-human-being-before-writing-it-s/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the West. I had no identity. I didn't even know anymore why I was living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-was-a-westerner-in-iran-an-iranian-in-the-west-i-had-no-identity-i/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I'm not a politician. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world. But as an artist, I have one duty: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-m-not-a-politician-i-don-t-know-how-to-solve-the-problems-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [A cat can never be well-trained because they're too independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/a-cat-can-never-be-well-trained-because-they-re-too-independent/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/it-s-fear-that-makes-us-lose-our-conscience-it-s-also-what-transforms/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I am absolutely not a feminist, I am against stupidity, and if it comes from males or females, it doesn't change anything. If it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-am-absolutely-not-a-feminist-i-am-against-stupidity-and-if-it-comes/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I was a child who had a life, who had hopes, and I wished that a bomb would not fall on my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-was-a-child-who-had-a-life-who-had-hopes-and-i-wished-that-a-bomb/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [There are things that I love in Iranian cinema and things that I don't. In Iranian cinema, you have to use metaphor because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/there-are-things-that-i-love-in-iranian-cinema-and-things-that-i-don/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-had-learned-that-you-should-always-shout-louder-than-your-aggressor/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [In the West, people don't have any real problems. It's all based on bad conscience, a very Christian notion. I don't have any bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/in-the-west-people-don-t-have-any-real-problems-it-s-all-based-on-bad/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/when-we-re-afraid-we-lose-all-sense-of-analysis-and-reflection-our/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) [Explore all 204 Marjane Satrapi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## More Adaptation quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [“Why I am Passionate and Dedicated 1000% to producing and bringing my books Loving Summer, Bitter Frost, and other book series to the Screen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/why-i-am-passionate-and-dedicated-1000-to-producing-and-bringing-my/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) [Alexander Agassiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-agassiz/) > [The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-smalley/the-survival-of-the-fittest-is-the-ageless-law-of-nature-but-the/) [Dave Smalley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-smalley/) > [The facts of variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-facts-of-variability-of-the-struggle-for-existence-of-adaptation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-law-of-nature-we-overlook-that-intellectual-versatility-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The world may not be ready yet for the film equivalent of books on tape, but this peculiar phenomenon has arrived in the form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-mitchell/the-world-may-not-be-ready-yet-for-the-film-equivalent-of-books-on/) [Elvis Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-mitchell/) > [“Evolution is more about adaptivity than adaptability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/evolution-is-more-about-adaptivity-than-adaptability/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [There is change by necessity or adaptation, and there is contrived change or novelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/there-is-change-by-necessity-or-adaptation-and-there-is-contrived/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The tendency for depression to repeat reflects the normal default settings of a plastic mood system that is open to experience. The unfortunate consequence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-rottenberg/the-tendency-for-depression-to-repeat-reflects-the-normal-default/) [Jonathan Rottenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-rottenberg/) > [“The unglamorous truth is that there are but a handful of uniquely human traits that we have clearly demonstrated are adaptations evolved to thrive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rutherford/the-unglamorous-truth-is-that-there-are-but-a-handful-of-uniquely/) [Adam Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rutherford/) > [“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/you-must-be-shapeless-formless-like-water-when-you-pour-water-in-a/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“On the rare occasions on which a movie was shown, there was as much suspense in the audience over whether the electricity would hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/on-the-rare-occasions-on-which-a-movie-was-shown-there-was-as-much/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) > [Working on an adaptation is not as satisfying, because it's not your original work: you're interpreting. With 'L.A. Confidential,' I loved the book. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-helgeland/working-on-an-adaptation-is-not-as-satisfying-because-it-s-not-your/) [Brian Helgeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-helgeland/) [Browse all 476 Adaptation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Adaptation of books is never a success. 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