Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connollywas a literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizonand wrote Enemies of Promise, which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of fiction that he had aspired to be in his youth...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth10 September 1903
art enemy good hall somber
There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall
mistake matter good-work
It is a mistake to expect good work from expatriates for it is not what they do that matters but what they are not doing.
achieved aim alone appetite attaching beans broad chicken child closer cow deep eagerly eat further good kingdom man meal occur opium perfect roast stimulate themselves vague vegetable vine
Never would it occur to a child that a sheep, a pig, a cow or a chicken was good to eat, while, like Milton's Adam, he would eagerly make a meal off fruits, nuts, thyme, mint, peas and broad beans which penetrate further and stimulate not only the appetite but other vague and deep nostalgias. We are closer to the Vegetable Kingdom than we know; is it not for man alone that mint, thyme, sage, and rosemary exhale ''crush me and eat me!'' -- for us that opium poppy, coffee-berry, tea-plant and vine perfect themselves? Their aim is to be absorbed by us, even if it can only be achieved by attaching themselves to roast mutton.
dungeon self serving
We are all serving a life-sentence in the dungeon of self
art grasped journalism literature
Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once
country
It is only in the country that we can get to know a fellow-being or a book.
artist closing gardens judged quality resonance solitude time west
It is closing time in the gardens of the West and from now on an artist will be judged only by the resonance of his solitude or the quality of his despair.
enjoy public virtues
The ape-like virtues without which no one can enjoy a public school.
becomes books clearer function produce task true writer
The more books we read, the clearer it becomes that the true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and that no other task is of any consequence.
mediocre
A best-seller is the golden touch of mediocre talent.
art develops equals imagination liquid nostalgia reality snapshot solution
Imagination equals nostalgia for the past, the absent; it is the liquid solution in which art develops the snapshot of reality
faithful grow loyal older situations types
When young we are faithful to individuals, when older we grow more loyal to situations and to types
alive becomes literature living words
While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living
call gods whom
Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first call promising.