Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Jane Austen's books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mark Twain humorously suggests that the lack of Jane Austen's books significantly diminishes a library's value.
In this quote, Mark Twain cleverly points out that the absence of Jane Austen's works is a major flaw in any library's collection. He implies that Austen's contributions to literature are so vital that a library lacking her books is fundamentally inadequate, highlighting the importance of certain authors in defining literary excellence.
Themes
LiteratureJane AustenLibraryBooksImportance
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about crucial authors in literary history, this quote can be used to highlight Jane Austen's significance.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes βThe easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
Browse Amazon reviews, and you'll see a surprising number of readers who believe one novel can summarize a country, its culture, and its people.
Celeste NgRead
I think speculative fiction has fewer unspoken prerequisites than literary fiction for writers of color.
Nnedi OkoraforRead
I'm not sure that it's possible to write a novel about people who don't transgress or stumble, people who don't surprise themselves with the things they do, people who can explain all their actions with perfect logical consistency. At least it's not possible for me to write that sort of novel.
Tom PerrottaRead
Itβs a small story really, about, among other things: * A girl * Some words * An accordionist * Some fanatical Germans * A Jewish fist fighter * And quite a lot of thievery
Markus ZusakRead
No writer must be measured by a word or paragraph. He is to be measured by his work - by the tendency, not of one line, but by the tendency of all.
Robert Green IngersollRead
People without hope not only don't write novels, but what is more to the point, they don't read them.
Flannery O'ConnorRead