Everything in art depends on execution: the story of a louse can be as…

Julian Barnes
152 citations
Everything in art depends on execution: the story of a louse can be as beautiful as the story of Alexander. You must write according to your feelings, be sure those feelings are true, and let everything else go hang. When a line is good it ceases to belong to any school. A line of prose must be as immutable as a line of poetry. ✨ Julian Barnes (1985). Flaubert's parrot, Alfred a Knopf Inc
Truth
17

More Author Quotes

Poets seem to write more easily about love than prose writers. For a start, they own that flexible ‘I’…. Then again, poets seem able to turn bad love – selfish, shitty love – into good love poetry. P … ▶
History isn't what happened, history is just what historians tell us.
What is history? Any thoughts, Webster?' 'History is the lies of the victors,' I replied, a little too quickly. 'Yes, I was rather afraid you'd say that. Well, as long as you remember that it is also … ▶
The best life for a writer is the life which helps him write the best books he can. ✨ Julian Barnes (1984). Flaubert's parrot, Vintage
If these are indeed the spirits of Englishmen and Englishwomen who have passed over into the next world, surely they would know how to form a proper queue?

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes