Art & Creativity Quote by James Herriot

A small sentence with a big, almost mischievous assertion of sovereignty. "I will write another book if I feel like it" reads like Herriot flicking away the entire machinery that normally surrounds authorship: publishing schedules, reader demand, the brand pressure to keep feeding the market. The emphasis isn’t on "another book" but on "if I feel like it" - a plainspoken declaration that the work comes from appetite, not obligation.

Herriot’s public persona was built on warmth and steadiness: the country vet who turns hard days into humane stories. That background matters here. Veterinary work is governed by necessity and urgency; the animals don’t care about your muse. So when the writer-Herriot insists on mood and choice, it’s a quiet reversal: he’s earned a realm where he can refuse the tyranny of need. The line also carries a gentle rebuke to the idea that creativity is a faucet you can turn on for other people’s convenience.

There’s subtextual self-protection, too. Herriot’s books trade in comfort, and comfort can become a cage - audiences come back wanting the same emotional meal. This sentence draws a boundary without sounding bitter. It’s not grandstanding about artistic purity; it’s a shrug with teeth. In eight words, he frames writing as a privilege he controls, not a job that controls him, and that’s why it lands: autonomy delivered in a tone so casual it feels unassailable.