If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he had to say in his works.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers were traditionally expected to express their thoughts fully in their published works.
John Updike's quote reflects the historical expectation that authors would convey all their ideas and understandings within their literary works. He suggests that before the 20th century, it was taken for granted that a writer's messages, insights, and philosophies would be contained within the pages of their books, without the need for supplementary commentary or explanation.
Themes
WritingLiteratureExpressionAuthorCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about literary analysis or the role of the author, this quote can illustrate how perceptions of writing have evolved.
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The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
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To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
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Similar quotes
He's a great writer. If I didn't think so I wouldn't have tried to kill him... I was the champ and when I read his stuff I knew he had something. So I dropped a heavy glass skylight on his head at a drinking party. But you can't kill the guy. He's not human.
Ernest HemingwayRead
At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
Short fiction and the novel, nonfiction and fiction, electronic texts and books - these are not opposites. One need not destroy the other to survive.
Celeste NgRead
We read Charlotte Bronte not for exquisite observation of character - her characters are vigorous and elementary; not for comedy - hers is grim and crude; not for a philosophic view of life - hers is that of a country parson's daughter; but for her poetry. Probably that is so with all writers who have, as she has, an overpowering personality, so that, as we say in real life, they have only to open the door to make themselves felt.
Virginia WoolfRead
For a lot of readers these days, a book is something you have to agree or disagree with. But you can't agree with a novel. For my generation, it was assumed that a book is a dramatic thing, that the eye of the book is not telling you what to think.
Howard JacobsonRead
At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.
Walter MosleyRead