To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of geni…

- John Hersey

The final test of a work of art is not whether it has beauty, but whether it has power.

- John Hersey

The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spi…

- John Hersey

Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education.

- John Hersey

The third stage was the reaction that came when the body struggled to compensate for its ills - when, for instance, the white count not only returned…

- John Hersey

The reality is that changes are coming... They must come. You must share in bringing them.

- John Hersey

At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, M…

- John Hersey

It's a failure of national vision when you regard children as weapons, and talents as materials you can mine, assay, and fabricate for profit and def…

- John Hersey

Events are less important than our responses to them.

- John Hersey