Everything in art depends on execution: the story of a louse can be as beautiful as the story of Alexander. You must write according to your feelings, be sure those feelings are true, and let everything else go hang. When a line is good it ceases to belong to any school. A line of prose must be as immutable as a line of poetry.

The Julian Barnes Booker Prize Finalist Collection, 3-Book Bundle (ed. Vintage, 2011) - ISBN: 9780307950642