Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Susan SontagRead
I don't write because there's an audience. I write because there is literature.
Interpretation
Writing is done for the love of literature, not for the audience.
In this quote, Susan Sontag emphasizes the intrinsic value of writing and literature, suggesting that the act of writing should stem from a passion for the craft itself rather than seeking external validation or popularity. It highlights the importance of genuine expression and creativity over commercial success or audience approval.
In practice
In a speech about writing, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of passion in creativity.
Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.
Gide and I have attained such perfect intellectual communion that I experience the appropriate labor pains for every thought he gives birth to!
Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
In NY sensuality completely turns into sexuality - no objects for the senses to respond to, no beautiful river, houses, people. Awful smells of the street, and dirt... Nothing except eating, if that, and the frenzy of the bed.
It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.
For me, being a writer was never a choice. I was born one. All through my childhood I wrote short stories and stuffed them in drawers. I wrote on everything. I didn't do my homework so I could write
In the experience of art, time seems not to exist.
Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.
To be an artist, you need to exist in a world of silence.
The best camera is the one you have with you.
Art is by nature optimistic. Art is optimistic because it is alive.
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