If You Have So Many Disagreeable Ideas, Why Write About Them? 

In response to either a personal email or something I wrote in this blog (as you know, I have no memory these days), AS sent me the following four quotes about writers and writing, saying “The one by Kingsley Amis was my favorite. And it made me think of you.”

I took that as a compliment. Here they are:

* “One reason the human race has such a low opinion of itself is that it gets so much of its wisdom from writers.” – Wilfrid Sheed

* “There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.” – H.L. Mencken

* “If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” – Kingsley Amis

* “If I didn’t have writing, I’d be running down the street hurling grenades in people’s faces.” – Paul Fussell

AS’s list reminded me of another quote by Mencken that I like and wholeheartedly subscribe to:

* “The two main ideas that run through all of my writing, whether it be literary criticism or political polemic are these: I am strong in favor of liberty and I hate fraud.”