(John) Yardley’s Law
John Yardley
Pretty is what works.
(Sydney) Smith’s Secret
Sydney Smith
Digestion is the great secret of life.
Blundell’s Law
William E. Blundell
All books over five hundred pages that weren’t written by Dickens or a dead Russian are better left on the shelf.
Browning’s Observation
Robert Browning
Less is more.
Byron’s Law
Byron
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Carothers’s Insight
A. J. Carothers
Something happens to a man when he puts on a necktie. It cuts off all the oxygen to his brain.
Cohen’s Rules of Book Publishing
Roger Cohen
1. There is only one thing worse than losing an auction for a book - and that is winning it.
2. It is nearly always more profitable to leave your money in the bank than to venture into trade book publishing [i.e. fiction and non-fiction for general readers as opposed to textbooks, reference books and so on] where a profit margin of even 5 percent is elusive.
3. No two people will agree on anything, even where to have lunch.
Creasey’s Law
John Creasey
Never buy an editor or publisher a lunch or a drink until he has bought an article, story or book from you. This rule is absolute and may be broken only at your peril.
Duggan’s Law of Scholarly Research
Michael A. Duggan
The most valuable quotation will be the one for which you cannot determine the source.
Eliot’s Observation
T. S. Eliot
Immature poets imitate mature poets steal.
