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Never Demean Yourself By Talking Back To A Critic, Never. Write Those Letters To The Editor In Your Head, But Don't Put Them On Paper.
-Truman Capote
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Never Demean Yourself By

Truman Capote
...
Never Demean Yourself By Talking Back To A Critic, Never. Write Those Letters To The Editor In Your Head, But Don't Put Them On Paper.

Understanding the Quote: "never demean yourself by talking back to a critic, never. write those..."

This quote by Truman Capote reflects deeply on the theme of writing. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Writing, Talking, Editors, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Truman Capote interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Truman Capote

Truman Capote is celebrated for insightful thoughts on writing and talking. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Writing
Talking
Editors
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But I'm Not A Saint Yet. I'm An Alcoholic. I'm A Drug Addict. I'm Homosexual. I'm A Genius.
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A Conversation Is A Dialogue, Not A Monologue. That's Why There Are So Few Good Conversations: Due To Scarcity, Two Intelligent Talkers Seldom Meet.
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If A Man Doesn't Like Baseball, Then He Must Like Horses, And If He Doesn't Like Either Of Them, Well, I'm In Trouble Anyway: He Don't Like Girls.
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I Think My Greatest Talent Really Is For Friendship.
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Failure Is The Condiment That Gives Success Its Flavor.
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I Got This Idea Of Doing A Really Serious Big Work-it Would Be Precisely Like A Novel, With A Single Difference: Every Word Of It Would Be True From Beginning To End.
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Whatever Relationship You Have, Man Or Woman, You Have To Be Very Attentive And You Have To Be A Very Good Friend To Them Regardless Of What They Do.
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In My Garden, After A Rainfall, You Can Faintly, Yes, Hear The Breaking Of New Blooms.
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Anticipation Is Anxiety. I Have Always Had A Very Extreme Anxiety Thing.
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All Literature Is Gossip.
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I Think Most People Are Very, Very Much Motivated By Sex - Greed, Sex, And Hunger.
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I Don't Mean I'd Mind Being Rich And Famous. That's Very Much On My Schedule And Someday I'll Try To Get Around To It.
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Most Of Life Is So Dull It Is Not Worth Discussing, And It Is Dull At All Ages. When We Change Our Brand Of Cigarette, Move To A New Neighborhood, Subscribe To A Different Newspaper, Fall In And Out Of Love, We Are Protesting In Ways Both Frivolous And Deep Against The Not To Be Diluted Dullness Of Day-to-day Living.
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What I Found Does The Most Good Is Just To Get Into A Taxi And Go To Tiffany's. It Calms Me Down Right Away, The Quietness And The Proud Look Of It;nothing Very Bad Could Happen To You There.
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Hulga The Whole While Hollering Like A Half-slaughtered Hog. (attention, Students Of Literature! Alliteration - Have You Noticed? - Is My Least Vice.)
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I'm One Of The World's Greatest Pencil Sharpeners.
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Most Contemporary Novelists, Especially The American And The French, Are Too Subjective, Mesmerized By Private Demons; Theyre Enraptured By Their Navels And Confined By A View That Ends With Their Own Toes.
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Poor Slob Without A Name. It's A Little Inconvenient, His Not Having A Name. But I Haven't The Right To Give Him One: He'll Have To Wait Until He Belongs To Somebody. We Just Sort Of Took Up By The River One Day, We Don't Belong To Each Other: He's An Independent, And So Am I. I Don't Want To Own Anything Until I Know I've Found The Place Where Me And Things Belong Together.
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The True Beloveds Of This World Are In Their Lover's Eyes Lilacs Opening, Ship Lights, School Bells, A Landscape, Remembered Conversations, Friends, A Child's Sunday, Lost Voices, One's Favorite Suit, Autumn And All Seasons, Memory, Yes, It Being The Earth And Water Of Existence, Memory.
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Jay Sebring Cut My Hair A Couple Of Times.
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One Day, I Started Writing, Not Knowing That I Had Chained Myself For Life To A Noble But Merciless Master. When God Hands You A Gift, He Also Hands You A Whip; And The Whip Is Intended Solely For Self-flagellation... I'm Here Alone In My Dark Madness, All By Myself With My Deck Of Cards - And, Of Course, The Whip God Gave Me.
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If You Weren't Here, If You Could Be Anywhere You Wanted To Be, Doing Anything You Wanted To Do, Where Would You Be And What Would You Be Doing?
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I'm Very Scared, Buster. Yes, At Last. Because It Could Go On Forever. Not Knowing What's Yours Until You've Thrown It Away.
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I Guess If You're That Thin And That Small You Don't Need To Take Up Too Much Space Or Breathe That Much Air. You Just Keep On Going.
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Everybody Has To Feel Superior To Somebody," She Said. "but It's Customary To Present A Little Proof Before You Take The Privilege.
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I Think The Only Person A Writer Has An Obligation To Is Himself. If What I Write Doesn't Fulfill Something In Me, If I Don't Honestly Feel It's The Best I Can Do, Then I'm Miserable.
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Good Writing Is Rewriting.
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You're Wonderful. Unique. I Love You.
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Are There Any Writers On The Literary Scene Whom I Consider Truly Great? Yes: Truman Capote.
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She Sounds The Way Bananas Taste.
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Breakfast At Tiffanys
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Hair
White
There Is No Shame — Having A Dirty Face — The Shame Comes When You Keep It Dirty.
Dirty
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Shame
I Want To Still Be Me When I Wake Up One Fine Morning And Have Breakfast At Tiffany´s.
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Breakfast
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Never Love A Wild Thing...if You Let Yourself Love A Wild Thing. You'll End Up Looking At The Sky.
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When You've Got Nowhere To Turn, Turn On The Gas.
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Gas
The Quietness Of His Tone Italicized The Malice Of His Reply.
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Purses
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Rejection
Slips
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Thinking
Drunk
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Sleep
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Pastures
I'm Scarcely An Enfant!
I've Tried To Believe, But I Don't, I Can't, And There's No Use Pretending.
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Use
Pretending
I Would Have Liked To Have Known Oscar Wilde Because I Think He Must Have Been Very Amusing And Entertaining.
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The Instant She Saw The Letter She Squinted Her Eyes And Bent Her Lips In A Tough Tiny Smile That Advanced Her Age Immeasurably. "darling," She Instructed Me, "would You Reach In The Drawer There And Give Me My Purse. A Girl Doesn't Read This Sort Of Thing Without Her Lipstick.
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Eye
Giving
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Lively, Too. Talky As A Jaybird. With Something Smart To Say On Every Subject: Better Than The Radio.
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Treats
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Guitar
Weapons
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Lying
Writing
Thinking
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Writing
Character
Fearless
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Dust
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Writing
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Weight
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Brooklyn
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Sin
Cruelty
Forgiven
The Brain May Take Advice, But Not The Heart, And Love Having No Geography, Knows No Boundaries: Weight And Sink It Deep, No Matter, It Will Rise And Find The Surface: And Why Not? Any Love Is Natural And Beautiful That Lies Within A Person's Nature; Only Hypocrites Would Hold A Man Responsible For What He Loves, Emotional Illiterates And Those Of Righteous Envy, Who, In Their Agitated Concern, Mistake So Frequently The Arrow Pointing To Heaven For The One That Leads To Hell.
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Motivational
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Love Is A Chain Of Love As Nature Is A Chain Of Life.
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Waiting
It’s Better To Look At The Sky Than Live There
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But He Does Look Stupid.' Yearning. Not Stupid. He Wants Awfully To Be On The Inside Staring Out: Anybody With Their Nose Pressed Against A Glass Is Liable To Look Stupid.
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Glasses
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I Used To Spend All Of My Time Projecting. I Was Never In The Moment. It Was Always Tomorrow Or Next Week Or Two Months From Now. That Was One Of The Reasons I Always Had This Sense Of Anxiety.
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Two
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I Haven't Anything Against Whores, Except This: Some Of Them May Have An Honest Tongue But They All Have Dishonest Hearts.
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May
Tongue
...there Was A Blond Misty Boy Sitting Beside Me, And He Looked At Me, And I At Him, And We Were Not Strangers: Our Hands Moved Towards Each Other To Embrace. I Never Heard His Voice, For We Did Not Speak; It Is A Shame, I Should So Like The Memory Of It. Loneliness, Like Fever, Thrives On Night, But There With Him Light Broke, Breaking In The Trees Like Birdsong, And When Sunrise Came, He Loosened His Fingers From Mine, And Walked Away, That Misty Boy, My Friend.
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Writing
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World
Want
Exclusion
Clocks Indeed Must Have Their Sacrifice: What Is Death But An Offering To Time And Eternity?
Inspirational
Sacrifice
Offering
She Took Off Her Dark Glasses And Squinted At Me. It Was As Though Her Eyes Were Shattered Prisms, The Dots Of Blue And Gray And Green Like Broken Bits Of Sparkle.
Eye
Dark
Glasses
There's Something Really The Matter With Most People Who Wear Tattoos. There's At Least Some Terrible Story. I Know From Experience That There's Always Something Terribly Flawed About People Who Are Tattooed, Above Some Little Something That Johnny Had Done In The Navy, Even Though That's A Bad Sign...it's Terrible. Psychologically It's Crazy. Most People Who Are Tattooed, It's The Sign Of Some Feeling Of Inferiority, They're Trying To Establish Some Macho Identification For Themselves.
Tattoo
Crazy
People
June, July, All Through The Warm Months She Hibernated Like A Winter Animal Who Did Not Know Spring Had Come And Gone.
Spring
Winter
Animal
You Can Do Films For The Fun Of It, Or The Thrill Of It, But Certain Films You Can't Do Unless There's Something Driving You, Something You Have A Passion For That Will Pull You Through.
Fun
Passion
Thrill
Sometimes When I Think How Good My Book Can Be, I Can Hardly Breathe.
Book
Reading
Thinking
If There Is No Mystery, For The Artist, To Solve Inside Of His Art, Then There's No Point In It....for Me, Every Act Of The Art Of Solving A Mystery.
Art
Mystery
Solve
I've Never Had An Affair With Somebody Who Wasn't At The Same Time A Very Good Friend Of Mine, If You See What I Mean.
Mean
Good Friend
Affair
Writing In The First Person Automatically Gives You A Point Of View.
Writing
Views
Giving
I Couldn't Understand A Sense Of Unease That Multiplied Until I Could Hear My Heart Beating.
Heart
My Heart
Heart Beating
It May Be Normal, Darling; But I'd Rather Be Natural.
Normal
May
Natural
The Brain May Take Advice, But Not The Heart.
Heart
Advice
Brain
[y]outh Is Hardly Human: It Can't Be, For The Young Never Believe They Will Die...especially Would They Never Believe That Death Comes, And Often, In Forms Other Than The Natural One.
Inspirational
Believe
Natural
I Just Live One Day At A Time. That's My New Theory In Life.
One Day At A Time
Theory
Just Live
I Know The Next Best Thing Is Often The Very Best.
Next
Best Things
Knows
Aprils Have Never Meant Much To Me, Autumns Seem That Season Of Beginning, Spring.
Spring
Fall
Autumn
I'm Not A Character In Any Of My Books.
Book
Character
Time. Time. What Is Time? Swiss Manufacture It, French Hoard It, Italians Squander It, Americans Say It Is Money. Hindus Say It Does Not Exist. Know What I Say? I Say Time Is A Crook.
Inspirational
Time
Doe
Those Final Weeks, Spanning End Of Summer And The Beginning Of Another Autumn, Are Blurred In Memory, Perhaps Because Our Understanding Of Each Other Had Reached That Sweet Depth Where Two People Communicate More Often In Silence Than In Words: An Affectionate Quietness Replaces The Tensions, The Unrelaxed Chatter And Chasing About That Produce A Friendship’s More Showy, More, In The Surface Sense, Dramatic Moments.
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Sweet
Memories
It Is Very Seldom That A Person Loves Anyone They Cannot In Some Way Envy.
Envy
Way
Persons
Fame Is Only Good For One Thing - They Will Cash Your Check In A Small Town.
Cash
Towns
Small Town
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Love
Boundaries
Geography
The Good Thing About Masturbation Is That You Don't Have To Get Dressed Up For It.
Witty
Sex
Good Things
That's All A Writer Has To Write About - What He Sees And Hears And What Not.
Writing
I Feel That All A Writer Has Is His Own Experience.
Feels
I Met Lee Harvey Oswald, In Moscow Just After He Defected. One Night I Was Having Dinner With A Friend, An Italian Newspaper Cor­respondent, And When He Came By To Pick Me Up He Asked Me If I'd Mind Going With Him First To Talk To A Young American Defector, One Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald Was Staying At The Metropole, An Old Czarist Hotel Just Off Kremlin Square.
Night
Italian
Squares
I Was Terribly Sure Trees And Flowers Were The Same As Birds Or People. That They Thought Things And Talked Among Themselves. And We Could Hear Them If We Really Tried. It Was Just A Matter Of Emptying Your Head Of All Other Sounds. Being Very Quiet And Listening Very Hard. Sometimes I Still Believe That. But One Can Never Get Quiet Enough.
Believe
Flower
People
All Artists Are Two-headed Calves.
Art
Artist
Two
Finishing A Book Is Just Like You Took A Child Out In The Back Yard And Shot It.
Children
Book
Writing
Traveling Wears Me Out.
Actually, I Think Friendship And Love Are Exactly The Same Thing.
Thinking
Love And Friendship
And Love
And In This Moment, Like A Swift Intake Of Breath, The Rain Came.
Rain
Moments
Breaths
We Don't Belong To Each Other: He's An Independent, And So Am I.
Independent
Breakfast At Tiffanys
That Isn't Writing At All, It's Typing.
Writing
Typing
It Takes A Lot Of Bad Writing To Get To A Little Good Writing.
Writing
Littles
Bad Writing
I Suppose You Think I'm Very Brazen. Or Très Fou. Or Something.' Not At All.' She Seemed Disappointed. 'yes, You Do. Everybody Does. I Don't Mind. It's Useful.
Thinking
Mind
Doe
Leave It To Me: I'm Always Top Banana In The Shock Department.
Inspirational
Motivational
Entrepreneur
Maybe The Older You Grow And The Less Easy It Is To Put Thought Into Action, Maybe That’s Why It Gets All Locked Up In Your Head And Becomes A Burden.
Inspirational
Action
Breakfast At Tiffanys
To Wake Up One Morning And Feel That I Was A Last A Grown-up Person, Emptied Of Resentment, Vengeful Thoughts And Other Wasteful Childish Emotions. To Find Myself, In Other Words, An Adult. Truman Capote
Morning
Adults
Wake Up
But, My Dear, So Few Things Are Fulfilled: What Are Most Lives But A Series Of Incompleted Episodes? 'we Work In The Dark, We Do What We Can, We Give What We Have. Our Doubt Is Our Passion And Our Passion Is Our Task...' It Is Wanting To Know The End That Makes Us Believe In God, Or Witchcraft, Believe, At Least, In Something.
Believe
Passion
Dark
Those Fellows, They're Always Crying Over Killers. Never A Thought For The Victims.
Killers
Cry
Victim
I Like To Talk On Tv About Those Things That Aren't Worth Writing About.
Writing
Tvs
In California Everyone Goes To A Therapist, Is A Therapist, Or Is A Therapist Going To A Therapist.
California
Therapists
She Had Only One Flaw. She Was Perfect, Otherwise Whe Was Perfect.
Perfect
Flaws
I Despise People Who Can't Control Themselves.
People
Despise
It's Odd About Tattoos. I've Talked To Several Hundred Men Convicted Of Homicide-multiple Homicide, In Most Cases. The Only Common Denominate- I Could Find Among Them Was Tattoos. A Good Eighty Percent Of Them Were Heavily Tattooed.
Tattoo
Men
Common
We All, Sometimes, Leave Each Other There Under The Skies, And We Never Understand Why.
Inspirational
Sky
Sometimes
Good Luck And Believe Me, Dearest Doc - It's Better To Look At The Sky Than Live There. Such An Empty Place; So Vague. Just A Country Where The Thunder Goes And Things Disappear.
Country
Believe
Good Luck
It's Like A Jumble Of Huts In A Jungle Somewhere. I Don't Understand How You Can Live There. It's Really, Completely Dead. Walk Along The Street, There's Nothing Moving. I've Lived In Small Spanish Fishing Villages Which Were Literally Sunny All Day Long Everyday Of The Week, But They Weren't As Boring As Los Angeles.
Moving
Fishing
Long
The Problem With Living Outside The Law Is That You No Longer Have Its Protection.
Law
Problem
Protection
Intelligence Alone Can't Make A Good Writer And Style Alone Can't Make A Good Writer - That Is, Not A Really Important Or Significant Writer - But The Two Things Together Make A Really Good Writer.
Two
Style
Important
Gasping For Breath, The Body Still Battling For Life.
Body
Stills
Breaths
It's A Scientific Fact That If You Stay In California You Lose One Point Of Your Iq Every Year.
Funny
Years
California
A Man Who Doesn't Dream Is Like A Man Who Doesn't Sweat. He Stores Up A Lot Of Poison.
Dream
Men
Sweat
When I'm Writing, I Never Write More Than Four Hours A Day.
Writing
Four
Hours
And Yes, To Answer You Seriously, I Am Beginning To Be... Well, Not Bored, But Tempted; Afraid, But Tempted. When You've Been In Pain For A Long Time, When You Wake Up Every Morning With A Rising Sense Of Hysteria, Then Boredom Is What You Want, Marathon Sleeps, A Silence In Yourself.
Morning
Pain
Sleep
The Way His Plump Hand Clutched At Her Hip Seemed Somehow Improper; Not Morally, Aesthetically.
Hands
Way
Hips
I Also Write The Last Paragraph Or Page Of A Story First. That Way I Always Know What I'm Working Towards.
Writing
Stories
Pages
Well, I'm About As Tall As A Shotgun, And Just As Noisy.
Shotguns
Wells
Noisy
Think Of Nothing Things Think Of Wind
Thinking
Wind
A Beautiful Day With The Buoyancy Of A Bird.
Beautiful
Bird
Beautiful Day
I Always Felt That Nobody Was Going To Understand Me, Going To Understand What I Felt About Things. I Guess That's Why I Started Writing. At Least On Paper I Could Put Down What I Thought.
Writing
Paper
Understand Me
There Was An American Girl, Priscilla Johnson. She Worked For U.p. In Moscow. She Knew [john] Kennedy, And She Met [lee Harvey] Oswald Around The Same Time I Did. But I Can Tell You Some­thing Else Almost As Curious.
Girl
Moscow
John Kennedy
They Can Romanticize Us So, Mirrors, And That Is Their Secret: What A Subtle Torture It Would Be To Destroy All The Mirrors In The World: Where Then Could We Look For Reassurerance Of Our Identities? I Tell You, My Dear, Narcissus Was So Egotist...he Was Merely Another Of Us Who, In Our Unshatterable Isolation, Recognized, On Seeing His Reflection, The Beautiful Comrade, The Only Inseparatable Love...poor Narcissus, Possibly The Only Human Who Was Ever Honest On This Point.
Beautiful
Reflection
Mirrors
That's The Difference Between The Serious Artist And The Craftsman--the Craftsman Can Take Material And Because Of His Abilities Do A Professional Job Of It. The Serious Artist, Like Proust, Is Like An Object Caught By A Wave And Swept To Shore. He's Obsessed By His Material; It's Like A Venom Working In His Blood And The Art Is The Antidote.
Art
Jobs
Blood
To Me, The Greatest Pleasure Of Writing Is Not What It's About, But The Inner Music That Words Make.
Music
Writing
Creativity
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