Books Quote by Samuel Johnson

While an author is yet living we estimate his powers by his worst performance, and when he is dead we rate them by his…

— Anonymous

The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone.

— Anonymous

The worse the author, the more he is known.

— James Purdy

For an author nothing is as dead as a book once it is written.

— Rumer Godden

That man scorches with his brightness, who overpowers inferior capacities, yet he shall be revered when dead.

— Horace

“As the death of the writer exaggerates the role of his work, the death of a person exaggerates the role of his effect on…

— Albert Camus

“The power of a writer is that he is a god of sorts. He can create his own worlds and populate them with his…

— Bangambiki Habyarimana

“The measure of a man lies not in his lengthy accomplishments, but in his decisions when he is faced with the certain, indisputable knowledge…

— Mitch Rowland

He that writes may be considered as a kind of general challenger, whom every one has a right to attack; since he quits the…

— Samuel Johnson

A successful author is equally in danger of the diminution of his fame, whether he continues or ceases to write.

— Samuel Johnson

Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always seem…

— James A. Baldwin

A great writer is nothing less than a martyr who does not die.

— Honore de Balzac