Tracing Quotations
Cormac McCarthy? Richard B. Woodward? Henry Holland? Paul Valéry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure was asked to name other influential writers. The sharp reply emphasized the interconnectedness of all cultural text: The ugly fact is books are made out of books. This statement has been ascribed to Cormac McCarthy who penned …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Books Are Made Out of Books”
Paul Valéry? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following appeared as an epigraph to an article I saw recently: Serious-minded people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious. The words were attributed to the French poet and commentator Paul Valéry. I am not sure precisely what the remark means. Would you please help me …
Continue reading “Serious-Minded People Have Few Ideas. People With Many Ideas Are Never Serious”
Paul Valéry? W. H. Auden? Anaïs Nin? Maya Deren? Jean Cocteau? Esther Kellner? Gene Fowler? Gore Vidal? Marianne Moore? George Lucas? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person who is absorbed with the task of generating an artwork hesitates to declare completion. Reworking and improving a piece is always a tantalizing possibility. Here …
Continue reading “A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned”