A Quote by Anthony de Jasay

Karl Popper once advised a student that if he wanted to reap intellectual fame, he should write endless pages of obscure, high-flown prose that would leave the reader puzzled and cowed. He should then here and there smuggle in a few sensible, straightforward sentences all could understand. The reader would feel that since he has grasped this part, he must have also grasped the rest. He would then congratulate himself and praise the author.

Anthony de Jasay

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Advised Also Author Congratulate Could Endless Fame Feel Few Flown High Himself Intellectual Karl Leave Must Obscure Once Pages Part Praise Prose Puzzled Reader Reap Rest Sensible Sentences Should Since Straightforward Student Then Understand Wanted Would Write

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Anthony de Jasay
Born: 1925

The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are initiated into the mysteries. Communication then is secondary: it is perpetuation which is important. For this only one good reader is necessary.

Henry Miller

You should never ask, 'What would the readers like now?' Instead, you should ask, 'What would I like if I was a reader?' And then you must trust your own mind.

Hakan Nesser

No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?

John Barton

Every reader of your ad is interested, else he would not be a reader. You are dealing with someone willing to listen. Then do your level best. That reader, if you lose him now, May never again be a reader

Claude C. Hopkins

I dreamed about this as a kid, that I would write - and people would read - a whole series of books. I feel accomplished, giddy, and tired. Mostly, though, I feel thankful. A trilogy is a huge investment on the part of author, publisher, and reader, and I'm grateful that so many people were willing to invest along with me.

Rae Carson

A very wise author once said that a writer writes for himself, and then publishes for money. I write for myself and publish just for the reader.

Guillermo Cabrera Infante

A very wise author once said that a writer writes for himself, and then publishes for money. I write for myself and publish just for the reader

Guillermo Cabrera Infante

God cannot be grasped by the mind. If he could be grasped, he would not be God.

Evagrius Ponticus

a good writer should draw the reader in by starting in the middle of the story with a hook, then go back and fill in what happened before the hook. Once you have the reader hooked, you can write whatever you want as you slowly reel them in.

Roland Smith

You can sort of start to write around 10. You also become a good reader around that time, and you want to imitate the thing that you love. I got praise for it, and then I found that it was a great way of translating my life, so I would write little stories and plays and things. At that point, it was kids' books that I was reading.

Andrew Sean Greer

Few authors understand themselves, and a proper reader must not only understand his author but also be able to see beyond him.

Johann Georg Hamann

I think, for me, there's The Book I Should Write and The Book I Wanted to Write - and they weren't the same book. The Book I Should Write should be realistic, since I studied English Lit. It should be cultural. It should reflect where I am today. The Book I Wanted to Write would probably include flying women, magic, and all of that.

Marlon James

I wanted to write and then I saw Pierrot and I understand that I could express myself in a more... Also probably, I had an intuition that if I was going to only write, I will stay in one room all the time and never go out. I felt that if I was going to make movies, I would have to communicate with people and it would be good for me.

Chantal Akerman

Once in a while, when I first started to write pieces, I would try to write to a reader other than myself. I always failed. I would freeze up.

Joan Didion

I didn't understand in the beginning that the editor didn't want me to know the author. I'd make an effort to meet the author, but it would end up being a disaster because then I had the author telling me what I should be doing.

Peter Sis

I would be a liar, a hypocrite, or a fool - and I'm not any of those - to say that I don't write for the reader. I do. But for the reader who hears, who really will work at it, going behind what I seem to say. So I write for myself and that reader who will pay the dues.

Maya Angelou

A Quote by Anthony de Jasay

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