Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.
Robertson DaviesRead
Literary critics, however, frequently suffer from a curious belief that every author longs to extend the boundaries of literary art, wants to explore new dimensions of the human spirit, and if he doesn't, he should be ashamed of himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques literary critics' assumptions about authors' motivations for innovation in literature.
Robertson Davies highlights a common misconception among literary critics who believe that all authors inherently desire to push the limits of literary expression. This assumption places undue pressure on writers, suggesting that those who do not conform to this expectation are somehow lacking in ambition or creativity. By bringing attention to this belief, Davies encourages readers to appreciate diverse approaches to writing, rather than adhering to a narrow definition of literary success.
Themes
LiteraryCriticsAuthorsCreativityArtExpectations
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary discussion about the pressures authors face, this quote could highlight the unrealistic expectations set by critics.
More from Robertson Davies
All quotes →Pessimism is a very easy way out because it is a short view of life. If you look at what is happening around us today, you can't help but feel that life is a terrible complexity of problems. But if you look back a few thousand years, you realize that we have advanced fantastically. If you take a long view, I do not see how you can be pessimistic about the future of mankind.
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This is one of the cruelties of the theatre of life; we all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters or even supernumeraries.
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Everything matters. The Universe is approximately fifteen billion years old, and I swear that in all that time, nothing has ever happened that has not mattered, has not contributed in some way to the totality.
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The egotist is all surface; underneath is a pulpy mess and a lot of self-doubt. But the egoist may be yielding and even deferential in things he doesn't consider important; in anything that touches his core he is remorseless.
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The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past.
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