The Idea Of Writer As Sage Is

There Are Works Of Literature Whose Influence Is Strong But Indirect Because It Is Mediated Through The Whole Of The Culture Rather Than Immediately Through Imitation. Wordsworth Is The Case That Comes To Mind.

No, Paul, I Couldn't Care Less If You Tell Me Made-up Stories. Our Lies Reveal As Much About Us As Our Truths.' (said To Paul By Elizabeth Costello, The Interloping Novelist-angel-inner Voice).

The Idea Of Writer As Sage Is Pretty Much Dead Today. I Would Certainly Feel Very Uncomfortable In The Role.

Temperament Is Fixed, Set. The Skull, Followed By The Temperament: The Two Hardest Parts Of The Body. Follow Your Temperament. It Is Not A Philosophy, It Is A Rule, Like The Rule Of St Benedict.

My Response, A Dubious And Hesitant One, Is That It Has Been And May Continue To Be, In The Time That Is Left To Me, More Productive To Live Out The Question Than To Try To Answer It In Abstract Terms.