--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books are well written, or badly written…" description: "\"Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/oscar-wilde-16_badly_books-are-well-written-or-badly-written_136712.jpg" --- # Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. ![“Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/oscar-wilde-16_badly_books-are-well-written-or-badly-written_136712.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/oscar-wilde-16_badly_books-are-well-written-or-badly-written_136712.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/oscar-wilde-16_badly_books-are-well-written-or-badly-written_136712.jpg) > “Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literary quality is binary: a work is either well written or poorly written, without nuance. **In simple terms:** Books are simply good or bad. Key Takeaway Focus on clear, effective writing. Themes writing quality literature Mood critical thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - authoring - publishing - education Key Concepts craftsmanship editing Questions to Reflect On - What makes a book “well written”? - How do you judge literary quality? A Different Perspective Literary merit often has shades of gray. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Thereis no such thing as amoral or an immoral book. 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That is all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/thereis-no-such-thing-as-amoral-or-an-immoral-book-books-are-well/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [A lot of truths about the living world are recorded in bad books; they are just badly written about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-roth/a-lot-of-truths-about-the-living-world-are-recorded-in-bad-books-they/) [Joseph Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-roth/) > [I love deliberately badly written books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-prince/i-love-deliberately-badly-written-books/) [Richard Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-prince/) > [“The world is a stage, but the play is badly written.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-world-is-a-stage-but-the-play-is-badly-written/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“And what is written well and what is written badly...need we ask Lysias or any other poet or orator who ever wrote or will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig-2/and-what-is-written-well-and-what-is-written-badly-need-we-ask-lysias/) [Robert M Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig-2/) > [I have spent myself on all kinds of things ... I have advanced much politically but I have written little and moreover have written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ba-jin/i-have-spent-myself-on-all-kinds-of-things-i-have-advanced-much/) [Ba Jin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ba-jin/) > [“Most books are so well written they barely have any effect on the reader’s senses”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/most-books-are-so-well-written-they-barely-have-any-effect-on-the/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/in-old-days-books-were-written-by-men-of-letters-and-read-by-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I cannot choose one hundred best books because I have only written five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-cannot-choose-one-hundred-best-books-because-i-have-only-written/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If you look at the beginning of children's entertainment in literature, the first books that were written for kids were cautionary tales. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-unkrich/if-you-look-at-the-beginning-of-children-s-entertainment-in/) [Lee Unkrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-unkrich/) > [“There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. 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Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-ugly-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-corrupt-without-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/as-a-moral-or-an-immoral-book-books-are-well-written-or-badly-written/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Badly quotes > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [You can have everything you want as long as you don't want it badly enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/you-can-have-everything-you-want-as-long-as-you-don-t-want-it-badly/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [I was turning up at sets where inexperienced people were making these badly written films - but they were doing it; that was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dexter-fletcher/i-was-turning-up-at-sets-where-inexperienced-people-were-making-these/) [Dexter Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dexter-fletcher/) > [In an era when party fundraising is badly tainted, dinners are a really good way of raising cash for campaigning. Lots of people giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-powell/in-an-era-when-party-fundraising-is-badly-tainted-dinners-are-a/) [Lucy Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-powell/) > [I love pushing my boundaries and seeing how far I can go without, you know, dying or injuring myself too badly. On set I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-grammer/i-love-pushing-my-boundaries-and-seeing-how-far-i-can-go-without-you/) [Spencer Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-grammer/) > [Trump spoke badly about women... It sparked worldwide reactions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-chandrababu-naidu/trump-spoke-badly-about-women-it-sparked-worldwide-reactions/) [N. Chandrababu Naidu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-chandrababu-naidu/) > [People are generally badly advised when they're starting out in the creative field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-lennon/people-are-generally-badly-advised-when-they-re-starting-out-in-the/) [Julian Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-lennon/) > [You know, sometimes you fall in love and you get treated badly, sometimes you get treated well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle/you-know-sometimes-you-fall-in-love-and-you-get-treated-badly/) [Estelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle/) > [Mandela's heroism is the heroism of a man who suffered so badly for what he thought of as freedom. And yet when he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bono/mandela-s-heroism-is-the-heroism-of-a-man-who-suffered-so-badly-for/) [Bono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bono/) > [Some fighters had blinding speed and reflexes in their heyday but faded badly with age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/some-fighters-had-blinding-speed-and-reflexes-in-their-heyday-but/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [“the only sin on earth was to do things badly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-only-sin-on-earth-was-to-do-things-badly/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/likewise-there-is-no-evidence-that-texting-teaches-people-to-spell/) [David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/) Browse all 351 Badly quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Books are well written, or badly written. 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