Any author who gets a swelled head because he has been given a prize or a plaque is a foolish man. John O’Hara
The Nobel Prize, to me, is a joke. They give it year after year to one absolutely nonexistent writer after another. Truman Capote
Just in case you should ever want to get a National Book Award I think I can give you some advice. First you have to have at least three good friends among the judges and then you have to have strong nerves, a commodious bladder and a good supply of bourbon. John Cheever
I should be scared to death to receive (The Nobel Prize), I don’t care how coveted it is….it has seemed to me that the receivers never do a good nor courageous piece of work afterwards. It kind of retires them. John Steinbeck
My definition of a worthwhile literary prize is that now and then one will be awarded to a writer despite the fact that he deserves it. John Barth
….while it’s lovely to receive awards, they should be appreciated for what they mean: that a certain number of people like your work. Don’t expect anymore than that, and certainly don’t make the slightest change in your writing or your behavior in an attempt to win one. If you win, fine; if you don’t, that’s also fine. The awards rarely go to the most innovative writers until long after their best work is done. Olson Scott Card
(Sinclair) Lewis…made a great mistake in not refusing the Nobel Prize, as he some time ago refused …the Pulitzer Prize. If I had got to him in time I’d have tried to induce him to do so…Winning the Nobel Prize will probably make him cautious, and so hobble him. He has a very active inferiority complex, and well be sure to remember his responsibilities as a Nobel Prizeman. H. L. Mencken
