The wisdom of literature is quite antithetical to having opinions. 'Nothing is my last word about anything,' said Henry James. Furnishing opinions, even correct opinions - whenever asked - cheapens what novelists and poets do best, which is to sponsor reflectiveness, to pursue complexity. Information will never replace illumination.
Susan SontagIn โlife,โ I donโt want to be reduced to my work. In โwork,โ I donโt want to be reduced to my life.
Susan SontagWe are told we must choose - the old or the new. In fact, we must choose both. What is a life if not a series of negotiations between the old and the new?
Susan SontagCompassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. The question is what to do with the feelings that have been aroused, the knowledge that has been communicated. People don't become inured to what they are shown โ if that's the right way to describe what happens โ because of the quantity of images dumped on them. It is passivity that dulls feeling.
Susan Sontag