I’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.
O. HENRYI’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.
O. HENRYTo a woman nothing seems quite impossible to the powers of the man she worships.
O. HENRYLife is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
O. HENRYShe plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership).
O. HENRYThere is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
O. HENRYIn the Big City a man will disappear with the suddenness and completeness of the flame of a candle that is blown out.
O. HENRYIf man knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they’d never marry.
O. HENRYWomen’s weapon, water-drops.
O. HENRYWhenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines.
O. HENRYHospitality in the prairie country is not limited. Even if your enemy passes your way, you must feed him before you shoot him.
O. HENRYWhenever he saw a dollar in another man’s hands he took it as a personal grudge, if he couldn’t take it any other way.
O. HENRYThere was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
O. HENRYHumans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.
O. HENRYIt’ll be a great place if they ever finish it.
O. HENRYBride knoweth bride at the glance of an eye. And between them swiftly passes comfort and meaning in a language that man and widows wot not of.
O. HENRYWrite what you like; there is no other rule.
O. HENRY