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
stupid power bored
The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that they are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.
stupid intelligent law
English Law: where there are two alternatives: one intelligent, one stupid; one attractive, one vulgar; one noble, one ape-like; one serious and sincere, one undignified and false; one far-sighted, one short; EVERYBODY will INVARIABLY choose the latter.
stupid intelligent thinking
The shock, for an intelligent writer, of discovering for the first time that there are people younger than himself who think him stupid is severe.
life fear publishing-books
As repressed sadists are supposed to become policemen or butchers so those with an irrational fear of life become publishers.
weed lying flower
A stone lies in a river; a piece of wood is jammed against it; dead leaves, drifting logs, and branches caked with mud collect; weeds settle there, and soon birds have made a nest and are feeding their young among the blossoming water plants. Then the river rises and the earth is washed away. The birds depart, the flowers wither, the branches are dislodged and drift downward; no trace is left of the floating island but a stone submerged by the water; - such is our personality.
call gods whom
Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first call promising.
art grasped journalism literature
Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once
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.
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.
learnt life maze turn walk wrong
Life is a maze in which we take the wrong turn before we have learnt to walk
disliked given life moments total
I have always disliked myself at any given moment; the total of such moments is my life
faithful grow loyal older situations types
When young we are faithful to individuals, when older we grow more loyal to situations and to types
master passions
The person who is master of their passions is reason's slave.