Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.

Len Wein

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Len Wein's quotes

Len Wein

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I hate the crazy, neurotic characters beyond a certain point.

Len Wein

I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.

Len Wein

I had never really thought of myself as a writer; any writing I had done was just to give myself something to draw.

Len Wein

I've never sat down and thought about the difference between plot and theme. To me, that's never been important.

Len Wein

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.

Len Wein

In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.

Len Wein

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.

Len Wein

When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.

Len Wein

Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.

Len Wein

A writer writes. Period. No matter if someone is buying your work or not.

Len Wein

I've had editors over the years who couldn't find a clue if it was stapled to their butt.

Len Wein

Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.

Len Wein

I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past.

Len Wein

People who were more concerned with themselves and looking good to their readers then they were with the characters sacrificed a series for the sake of a story.

Len Wein

I would like immortality.

Len Wein

When I got my first glimpse of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, my breath caught. In that single instant, he was Wolverine.

Len Wein

There is an ancient legend which warns that, should we ever learn our true origin, our universe will instantly be destroyed.

Len Wein

I try not to violate what came before me and to leave lots of wiggle room for those who will follow.

Len Wein

I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.

Len Wein

Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.

Len Wein

Art is always in the eyes of the beholder. Only posterity has the right to point out our mistakes.

Len Wein

I always wanted to fire rays out of my fingertips.

Len Wein

Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.

Len Wein

What makes a story is how well it manages to connect with the reader, the visceral effect it has.

Len Wein

It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.

Len Wein

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

Len Wein

It all depends on which side of the desk you're sitting on.

Len Wein

When someone writes to tell me something I've written made them laugh or cry, I've done my job and done it well. The rest is all semantics.

Len Wein

In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.

Len Wein

You can read a dozen different textbooks or how-to manuals that will tell you the basic rules of what makes a story - a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Len Wein

I've always thought of myself as an organic writer, rather than a cerebral one. I feel my way along as I go, hoping I'll get to the place I intend to reach.

Len Wein

I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.

Len Wein

If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.

Len Wein

The most unrealistic thing I've ever read in comics is when some group of characters calls themselves the Brotherhood of Evil or the Masters of Evil. I don't believe any character believes their goals to be truly evil.

Len Wein

I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.

Len Wein

These days, it seems that if you're not already in place, you can't get there from here.

Len Wein

A friend is someone who is there for you when hed rather be anywhere else.

Len Wein

It's not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and kill us; it's the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of omnibuses.

Virginia Woolf

The military has been tremendously important in the past during catastrophes and in protecting the population. But it shouldn't become an auxiliary police force.

Otto Schily

Human beings will line up for miles to buy a bucket of catastrophes, but don't try selling sunshine and light - you'll go broke.

Chuck Jones

Len Wein

AIDS occupies such a large part in our awareness because of what it has been taken to represent. It seems the very model of all the catastrophes privileged populations feel await them.

Susan Sontag

Shakespeare very rarely makes the least attempt to surprise by his catastrophes. They are felt to be inevitable, though the precise way in which they will be brought about is not, of course, foreseen.

Andrew Coyle Bradley

The recent past always presents itself as if destroyed by catastrophes.

Theodor Adorno

War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.

Georges Clemenceau

War is a series of catastrophes which result in victory.

Albert Pike

Plant diseases, drought, desolation, despair were recurrent catastrophes during the ages - and the ancient remedies: supplications to supernatural spirits or gods.

Norman Borlaug

One of the privileges of the great is to witness catastrophes from a terrace.

Jean Giraudoux