The only virtue on which I pride myself is my self-doubt; when a writer loses her self-doubt, the time has come to lay aside her pen.
Interpretation
Self-doubt is essential for self-improvement and creativity in writing.
In this quote, Colette emphasizes the importance of self-doubt as a critical virtue for writers. She suggests that doubt allows writers to reflect on their work and remain humble, and once they lose that sense of questioning, it may signal the end of their creative journey. Self-doubt is portrayed not as a weakness, but rather as a necessary component of artistic integrity and growth.
In practice
In a writing workshop, discussing how self-doubt can lead to better revision processes.
It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses.
Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude.
You must not pity me because my sixtieth year finds me still astonished. To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.
Truffles must come to the table in their own stock and as you break open this jewel sprung from a poverty-stricken soil, imagine - if you have never visited it - the desolate kingdom where it rules.
I did not look for her, because I was afraid of dispelling the mystery we attach to people whom we know only casually.
You can ensure the success of your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Therefore, that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
Ach, people are always telling us not to do things" said Rob Anybody, "that's how we ken the most interesting things to do.
Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure-footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life.
It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.
I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it.
No one knows enough to be a pessimist
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