Bartleby Kills

Famous quotes containing the words bartleby and/or kills:

“Imagine my surprise, nay, my consternation, when without moving from his privacy, Bartleby in a singularly mild, firm voice, replied, “I would prefer not to.””
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)

“I never meant to deny the moral impact of art which is certainly inherent in every genuine work of art. What I do deny and am prepared to fight to the last drop of my ink is the deliberate moralizing which to me kills every vestige of art in a work however skillfully written.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)