"There are, above all, two kinds of writer: those who write for the sake of what they have to say and those who write for the sake of writing. The former have had thoughts or experiences which seem to them worth communicating; the latter need money and that is why they write - for money. They think for the purpose of writing. You can recognize them by the fact that they spin out their ideas to the greatest possible length, that their ideas are half-true, forced, and vacillating.... You can soon see that they are writing simply in order to cover paper... and as soon as you do see it, you should throw the book down, for time is precious."

"Writing for money and preservation of copyright are, at bottom, the ruin of literature. It is only the man who writes absolutely for the sake of what he has to say that writes anything worth writing. ... The deplorable condition of literature today, both in Germany and other countries, is due to the fact that books are written for the sake of earning money. Every one who is in want of money sits down and writes a book, and the public is stupid enough to buy it. The secondary effect is the ruin of language.

A great number of bad authors eke out their existence entirely by the foolishness of the public, which will only read what has just been printed. I refer to journalists, appropriately named 'day labourers'."