To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed.
Joan DidionRead
Writers are only rarely likable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers often have complex personalities that may not be universally appealing.
Joan Didion suggests that the nature of being a writer is often intertwined with a certain complexity, making it difficult for writers to be easily likable. The creative process can lead to a deep introspection and often a disconnect from conventional social norms, which may result in a perception of unlikability among others.
Themes
WritersLikabilityComplexityArtPersonality
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary discussion, one might say, 'As Joan Didion said, writers are only rarely likable, which often adds depth to their work.'
More from Joan Didion
All quotes βThe truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time.
Joan DidionRead
Memories are what you no longer want to remember.
Joan DidionRead
It was clear, for example, in 1988 that the political process had already become perilously remote from the electorate it was meant to represent.
Joan DidionRead
I mean maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?
Joan DidionRead
Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.
Joan DidionRead
Similar quotes
There are thousands of ragas, and they are all connected with different times of the day, like sunrise or night or sunset. It is all based on 72 of what we call 'mela' or scales. And we have principally nine moods, ranging from peacefulness to praying, or the feeling of emptiness you get by sitting by the ocean.
Ravi ShankarRead
I think what's really the most ideal thing is for the player themselves, within their own imagination, to carve out what they view as being the essence of the character.
Shigeru MiyamotoRead
When I realised that what I do really well is play women who are tough and vulnerable, it was a moment of clarity. Many female characters either have one trait or the other, but I play both. I don't need to play characters who are like me. I can just do that with my life.
Carrie-Anne MossRead
That pompous phrase (graphic novel) was thought up by some idiot in the marketing department of DC. I prefer to call them Big Expensive Comics.
Alan MooreRead
Anybody that creates anything is just creating new compositions of things that have existed before. We're all creating something, we're all creating our own personal works of art in ourselves.
Rick OwensRead
What a lumbering poor vehicle prose is for the conveying of a great thought! ... Prose wanders around with a lantern & laboriously schedules & verifies the details & particulars of a valley & its frame of crags & peaks, then Poetry comes, & lays bare the whole landscape with a single splendid flash.
Mark TwainRead