Gilbert Keith Chesterton


English Author
1874-1936

"One of the godlike things about Dickens is his quantity, his quantity as such, the enormous output, the incredible fecundity of his invention. I have said that not one of us could have invented Mr. Guppy (a comparatively minor character in Bleak House). But even if we could have stolen Mr. Guppy from Dickens we have still to confront the fact that Dickens would have been able to invent another quite inconceivable character to take his place. Perhaps we could have created Mr. Guppy; but the effort would certainly have exhausted us; we should be ever afterwards wheeled about in a bath-chair at Bournemouth."

From G.K. Chesterton's Charles Dickens.