WIST Quotations

MacLeish, Archibald -- In Charles Poore, “Mr. MacLeish and the Disenchantmentarians,” The New York Times (25 Jan 1968)

Dave — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:44:46 +0000

A real writer learns from earlier writers the way a boy learns from an apple orchard — by stealing what he has a taste for and can carry off.

Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) American poet, writer, statesman
In Charles Poore, “Mr. MacLeish and the Disenchantmentarians,” The New York Times (25 Jan 1968)
(Source)

Eliot, T. S. -- “Philip Massinger,” The Sacred Wood (1920)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:32:33 +0000

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“Philip Massinger,” The Sacred Wood (1920)

Lowell, James Russell -- “For an Autograph,” Under the Willows and Other Poems (1868)

Dave — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:01:00 +0000

Though old the thought and oft exprest,
‘Tis his at last who says it best.

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American diplomat, essayist, poet
“For an Autograph,” Under the Willows and Other Poems (1868)

Hazlitt, William -- “Common Places” (22), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Dave — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 15:09:11 +0000

Abuse is an indirect species of homage.

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
“Common Places” (22), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things, ch. 41 “Orphan Children” (1868)

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:44:49 +0000

About the most originality that enny writer kan hope tew arrive at honestly, now-a-days, is tew steal with good judgment.

[About the most originality that any writer can hope to arrive at honestly, nowadays, is to steal with good judgment.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things, ch. 41 “Orphan Children” (1868)
(Source)

Variant: "About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment."

Chabon, MIchael -- “Fan Fictions: On Sherlock Holmes,” Maps and Legends (2008)

Dave — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 16:16:50 +0000

And yet there is a degree to which […] all literature, highbrow or low, from the Aeneid onward, is fan fiction. […] Through parody and pastiche, allusion and homage, retelling and reimagining the stories that were told before us and that we have come of age loving — amateurs — we proceed, seeking out the blank places in the map that our favorite writers, in their greatness and negligence, have left for us, hoping to pass on to our own readers — should we be lucky enough to find any — some of the pleasure that we ourselves have taken in the stuff we love: to get in the game. All novels are sequels; influence is bliss.

Michael Chabon (b. 1963) American author
“Fan Fictions: On Sherlock Holmes,” Maps and Legends (2008)