I Read In Order To Write. I

Dedication To One's Work In The World Is The Only Possible Sanctifica-tion. Religion In All Its Forms Is Dedication To Someone Else's Work, Not Yours.

A. Critics: People Who Make Monuments Out Of Books. B. Biographers: People Who Make Books Out Of Monuments. C. Poets: People Who Raze Monuments. D. Publishers: People Who Sell Rubble. E. Readers: People Who Buy It.

Is There A Word More Passionate Than Passion? Obsession, Total Immersion, The Feeling That Everything Else Doesn't Matter.

We Are So Placid That The Smallest Tremor Of Objection To Anything At All Is Taken As A Full-scale Revolution. Should Any Soul Speak Up In Favor Of The Obvious, It Is Taken As A Symptom Of The Influence Of The Left, The Right, The Pink, The Black, The Dangerous. An Idea For Its Own Sake - Especially An Obvious Idea - Has No Respectability.

Literature Is An Instrument Of A Culture, Not A Summary Of It.