Literary Birthday – 5 April – Arthur Hailey

Arthur Hailey was born 5 April 1920, and died 24 November 2004.

Five Quotes

1. I set myself 600 words a day as a minimum output, regardless of the weather, my state of mind or if I’m sick or well. There must be 600 finished words-not almost right words.
2. I don’t think I really invented anybody. I have drawn on real life.
3. Americans see democracy as a remedy for all ills-to be taken three times daily like prescription medicine. It works for them. Ergo – it should work for the world. What America naïvely forgets is that for democracy to function, most of a populace must have something personally that is worth preserving.
4. Winners will be losers if they don’t support the losers.
5. Don’t put down too many roots in terms of a domicile. I have lived in four countries and I think my life as a writer and our family’s life have been enriched by this. I think a writer has to experience new environments. There is that adage: No man can really succeed if he doesn’t move away from where he was born. I believe it is particularly true for the writer.

Arthur Hailey was a British-Canadian novelist, whose works have sold more than 170 million copies in 40 languages. He is most famous for Airport and Hotel.

by Amanda Patterson

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