They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
What can't be said can be written. Because writing is a silent act, a labor from the head to the hand.
Poets are seen as the caretakers of language, so working with words no matter what the form is what we do.
To be able to write a play a man must be sensitive, imaginative, naive, gullible, passionate; he must be something of an imbecile, something of a poet, something of a liar, something of a damn fool.
However great a man's natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.
If you had a million Shakespeares, could they write like a monkey?
At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it.
The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.
A man may be variously accomplished, and yet be a feeble poet.
Writing is not a matter of choice. Writers have to write. It is somehow in their temperament, in the blood, in tradition.
The crucial thing in any work of any kind is that it must be a gift - the reader must possess it even more than the person who wrote it. It must be given completely.