Wilfrid Sheed
Wilfrid Sheed
Wilfrid John Joseph Sheedwas an English-born American novelist and essayist...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth27 December 1930
writing consolation died
I picked up the writing on the very day he died. It was the only consolation I could find.
english-novelist gets human itself low race wisdom
One reason the human race has such a low opinion of itself is that it gets so much of its wisdom from writers.
knew respected women
as he was with all women he knew 'personally' . . . or respected even a little bit.
strong real mistake
It is a fallacy to think that carping is the strongest form of criticism: the important work begins after the artist's mistakes have been pointed out, and the reviewer can't put it off indefinitely with sneers, although some neophytes might be tempted to try: "When in doubt, stick out your tongue" is a safe rule that never cost one any readers. But there's nothing strong about it, and it has nothing to do with the real business of criticism, which is to do justice to the best work of one's time, so that nothing gets lost.
marriage couple judging
Even the God of Calvin never judged anyone as harshly as married couples judge each other.
death suicide dying
Suicide is about life, being in fact the sincerest form of criticism life gets.
soul rest-of-your-life palaces
Saloons provide moments of genuine ecstasy - but only if your soul is at peace and the rest of your life bears contemplating. Otherwise, they are palaces of misery.
spiritual simple sick
The spiritual life becomes very simple when you're sick.
thinking knights voice
Of course, history is only a muddle of facts and a fuddle of professors, and anyone who thinks it is one clear voice saying "Arise, sir Knight" deserves a life sentence in Camelot.
brother may watches
Whether or not Big Brother is watching us, we certainly have to watch him, which may be even worse.
hero might tests
Mankind has always made too much of its saints and heroes, and how the latter handle the fuss might be called their final test.
people substance talent
People talk about talent as though it were some neutral substance that can be applied to anything. But talent is narrow and only functions with a very few subjects, which it is up to the writer to find.
men artist supposing-that
For now, I'm supposing that all movements are equal, which they're not, except in this respect: that none of them gives a damn about artists beyond their immediate utility. Good movements will use a writer just as ruthlessly as bad ones; since they all fancy they have better things to do than worry about one man's artistic survival.
reviews breach
Mushy reviews are a breach of faith