Below is a list of my Lit Quotes: interesting or funny quotes about reading, writing, publishing, or other literary subjects.

Where available, the original sources are listed.

The publication date at this blog is grayed-out, italicized, and in brackets.

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Introduction [20 Mar 2010]

Females and the danger of romance fiction – from The Clergyman’s Almanack, 1815 [21 Mar 2010]

Why borrowed books seldom return – from Delight and Pastime or Pleasant Diversion for both sexes consisting of Good History &c &c, 1697 [31 Mar 2010]

Ethnic humor for advanced 18th century readers – from The Columbian Reading Book, 1799 [22 Apr 2010]

The Book of Sports is a must read! by order of the king – from The English People on the Eve of Colonization : 1603-1630, 1954 [25 Apr 2010]

The bookbinder’s family – from The Reshaping of Everyday Life : 1790-1840, 1988 [07 Jun 2010]

Early modern tabloid literature – from The English People on the Eve of Colonization : 1603-1630, 1954 [24 Jun 2010]

Novels in Revolutionary America – from The Social Structure of Revolutionary America, 1965 [19 Aug 2010]

Books to do you good – from The Cultural Life in the American Colonies, 2002 [19 Nov 2010]

Writing with “true grit” – from True Grit, 1968 [21 Jan 2011]

W. H. Auden on genre bias – from the New York Times, 11 Jan 1956 [10 Feb 2011]

Reading as the glue of civilization – from Scientific American Mind, 19 Jan 2011 [13 Feb 2011]

Mickey Spillane on the drink of choice – from the New York Times Book Review, 27 Dec 1981 [08 May 2011]

Raymond Chandler on best-sellers – from The Simple Art of Murder, 1944 [04 Nov 2011]

Favorite Dialogue of the Week: “Whom did you wish to see?” – from The Lady in the Lake, 1943 [20 Feb 2013]

Bad writing (and bad editing) of the 17th century – from The Intellectual Life of Colonial New England, 1956 [27 Feb 2013]

More to come!