“They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is that there is no greater theme than men and women.”

— John O'Hara

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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John O'Hara 4

American journalist 1905–1970

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“Every true writer is like a bird; he repeats the same song, the same theme, all his life. For me, this theme as always been revolt.”

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“There is no higher honor than to serve free men and women, no greater privilege than to labor in government beneath the Great Seal of the United States and the American flag.”

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“The expansion of life, moving out from Earth into its inheritance, is an even greater theme than the expansion of England across the Atlantic. As Hakluyt wrote that there is under our noses the great and ample country of Virginia, I am saying that there is under our noses the territory of nine planets, forty moons, ten thousand asteroids and a trillion comets.”

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“I hold any writer sufficiently justified who is himself in love with his theme.”

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“It'll say, 'Danny Elfman, who wrote the theme to 'The Simpsons,' etcetera…That's what I'll be remembered for.”

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“Lofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller.”

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Ainsi les postes éminents rendent les grands hommes encore plus grands, et les petits beaucoup plus petits.
Aphorism 95
Les Caractères (1688), De l'Homme

“They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is that there is no greater theme than men and women.”

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