--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing induces me to read a novel except…" description: "\"Nothing induces me to read a novel except when I have to make money by writing about it. I detest them.\" — Virginia Woolf" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/virginia-woolf-49_books_nothing-induces-me-to-read-a-novel-excep_2941276.jpg" --- # Nothing induces me to read a novel except when I have to… ![“Nothing induces me to read a novel except when I have to make money by writing about it. I detest them.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/virginia-woolf-49_books_nothing-induces-me-to-read-a-novel-excep_2941276.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/virginia-woolf-49_books_nothing-induces-me-to-read-a-novel-excep_2941276.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/virginia-woolf-49_books_nothing-induces-me-to-read-a-novel-excep_2941276.jpg) > “Nothing induces me to read a novel except when I have to make money by writing about it. I detest them.” [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author expresses disdain for novels unless financially motivated, revealing tension between artistic integrity and commercial pressure. **In simple terms:** Dislikes novels unless paid to write. Key Takeaway Balance art with practical needs. Themes art commercialism literature integrity motivation Mood critical thoughtful conflicted Type literary personal When to use this quote - writing contracts - grant applications - publishing decisions Key Concepts creative conflict financial necessity artistic compromise Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile art and profit? - What drives your creative choices? A Different Perspective Commercial focus may dilute creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [To read a novel is a difficult and complex art. You must be capable not only of great fineness of perception, but of great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/to-read-a-novel-is-a-difficult-and-complex-art-you-must-be-capable/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [To read a novel is a difficult and complex art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/to-read-a-novel-is-a-difficult-and-complex-art/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. 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I think the best these men can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-detest-the-masculine-point-of-view-i-am-bored-by-his-heroism-virtue/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“To write an excellent novel, make the outcome of the story matter to the reader through the evolving relationships between well-designed characters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sandforth/to-write-an-excellent-novel-make-the-outcome-of-the-story-matter-to/) Martin Sandforth > [I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-hadn-t-seen-any-novel-make-the-statement-that-entering-the/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [If there's one thing that can save the novel, it is to make it independent of cinema, to narrate in a way that cinema…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agustin-fernandez-mallo/if-there-s-one-thing-that-can-save-the-novel-it-is-to-make-it/) [Agustin Fernandez Mallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agustin-fernandez-mallo/) > [I often use nameless places in my work as a way of allowing the readers to create more of the novel and to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-often-use-nameless-places-in-my-work-as-a-way-of-allowing-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When you write a novel, you make other people see your imaginary friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tayari-jones/when-you-write-a-novel-you-make-other-people-see-your-imaginary/) [Tayari Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tayari-jones/) > [ \[The movies\] make the sort of comment only a novel can make, an allusion to the world in which people live, the psychological and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-movies-make-the-sort-of-comment-only-a-novel-can-make-an-allusion/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [One novel in five hundred or a thousand has the quality a novel should have to make it a novel -- the quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/one-novel-in-five-hundred-or-a-thousand-has-the-quality-a-novel/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The process of writing a novel is getting to know more about the novel until you know everything about it. And it's been described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-process-of-writing-a-novel-is-getting-to-know-more-about-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [In a novel, you can always go back and make it look like you knew what you were doing all along before the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/in-a-novel-you-can-always-go-back-and-make-it-look-like-you-knew-what/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [ What was fun for me with this book \[Lincoln in the Bardo\] was to start out with the principle that went, "We're going to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-was-fun-for-me-with-this-book-lincoln-in-the-bardo-was-to-start/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## More by Virginia Woolf > [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The train slows and lengthens, as we approach London, the centre, and my heart draws out too, in fear, in exaltation. I am about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-train-slows-and-lengthens-as-we-approach-london-the-centre-and-my/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side all is correct, definite, orderly; the paths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/across-the-broad-continent-of-a-woman-s-life-falls-the-shadow-of-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Other worshipful objects were content with worship; men, women, God, all let one kneel prostrate; but this form, were it only the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/other-worshipful-objects-were-content-with-worship-men-women-god-all/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Why does Samuel Butler say, 'Wise men never say what they think of women'? Wise men never say anything else apparently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-does-samuel-butler-say-wise-men-never-say-what-they-think-of/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Sometimes he woke with a brain like lead; at others it was as if a thousand wax tapers were alight and people were throwing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/sometimes-he-woke-with-a-brain-like-lead-at-others-it-was-as-if-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [A veil of insanity everywhere: Oh why I was born in this age? It is a terrible age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-veil-of-insanity-everywhere-oh-why-i-was-born-in-this-age-it-is-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Love ought to stop on both sides, don’t you think, simultaneously?’ He spoke without any stress on the words, so as not to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/love-ought-to-stop-on-both-sides-don-t-you-think-simultaneously-he/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“It is so vast an alleviation to be able to point for another to look at. And then not to talk. To follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-so-vast-an-alleviation-to-be-able-to-point-for-another-to-look/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“What a vast fertility of pleasure books hold for me! (...) I think I could happily live here & read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“For one's children so often gave one's own perceptions a little thrust forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-one-s-children-so-often-gave-one-s-own-perceptions-a-little/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-would-not-say-of-anyone-in-the-world-now-that-they-were-this-or/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) [Explore all 1,872 Virginia Woolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## 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 > [“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. 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