“Literature is too full of 'acknowledgments' and squabbles about originality...”

“The profound originality of a divine-human pact in which both parties complain endlessly about each other has too rarely been acknowledged as such.”

“An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them.”

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

“All literature, or most literature, is about sex." (A. Burgess)”

“You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it... Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.”