The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity.
Umberto EcoRead
Since I became a novelist I have discovered that I am biased. Either I think a new novel is worse than mine and I don’t like it, or I suspect it is better than my novels and I don’t like it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the author's struggle with jealousy towards other writers' works, revealing a common sentiment among creatives.
Umberto Eco's quote highlights the emotional complexity that comes with being a writer. As a novelist, Eco acknowledges a tendency to compare his work with that of others, resulting in a bias where he either feelsinferior to better works or superior to those he deems worse. This reflects the universal challenge of self-esteem and validation in the artistic community, where the fear of inadequacy can overshadow appreciation for others' creativity.
Themes
JealousyWritingComparisonCreativityInsecurity
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on creative writing, a participant shared this quote to discuss the challenges of self-doubt among writers.
More from Umberto Eco
All quotes →I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early poetry, and bad poets publish it. Thankfully I gave up rather quickly.
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But why do some people support [the heretics]?" "Because it serves their purposes, which concern the faith rarely, and more often the conquest of power." "Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?" "That is why, and that is also why it recognizes as orthodoxy any heresy it can bring back under its own control or must accept because the heresy has become too strong.
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You die, but most of what you have accumulated will not be lost; you are leaving a message in a bottle.
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"Then we are living in a place abandoned by God," I said, disheartened. "Have you found any places where God would have felt at home?" William asked me, looking down from his great height.
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The lunatic is all idée fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars.
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