I find righteous denunciations of the present state of the language no less dismaying than the present state of the language.

Probably it is impossible for humor to be ever a revolutionary weapon. Candide can do little more than generate irony.

Immature ists imitate. Mature ists steal.

The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of the self in its quarrel with its society and its culture. Literature is in that sense subversive.

The immature artist imitates. The mature artist steals.

Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.

Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.