An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future.
A writer who is in a hurry to be understood today or tomorrow runs the danger of being misunderstood the day after tomorrow.
It must inquire not merely about the circumstances of the time in general, but in particular about the writer's position with regard to these things, the interests and motives, the leading ideas of his literary activity.
Man spends his life in reasoning on the past, in complaining of the present, in fearing future.
The reserve of modern assertions is sometimes pushed to extremes, in which the fear of being contradicted leads the writer to strip himself of almost all sense and meaning.
A man who goes forth to take the life of another whom he does not know must believe one thing only - that by his act he will change the course of history.
The writer is the visionary of his people... He anticipates, he warns.
Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present.
The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect or party.
Writing about the future and the past is less a way of dramatizing change than of showing, by way of contrast, what abides.
No opposing quotes found.