Cohorts of the devil

Posted by ESC on April 03, 2004

In Reply to: Quotation attributed to Goethe posted by Joe Esposito on April 03, 2004

: I have been trying to track down a quotation that I once heard attributed to Goethe. The quotation (presumably in translation) is to the effect that "there is a special place in hell for publishers." I would appreciate it if anyone can verify the quotation, provide a precise English translation, and summarize the context of the original utterance.

: Thank you.
: Joe

I couldn't find it any of my quote books. Here's what I found online:

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von , 1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist, and scientist, b. Frankfurt. One of the great masters of world literature, his genius embraced most fields of human endeavor; his art and thought are epitomized in his great dramatic poem Faust.

Publishers are all cohorts of the devil; there must be a special hell for them somewhere.
- Johann Goethe
www.insultmonger.com/ literary/critics_and_publishers.htm

Another site says this variation is in "The 776 Nastiest Things Ever Said" by Ross and Kathryn Petras, but I've flipped through the book a couple of times and can't find it:

"Booksellers are all cohorts of the devil; there must be a special hell for them somewhere."(Goethe)