karenika - books - metaphor & memory

Metaphor & Memory

Promise is like a mediaeval hangman who after settling the noose, pushed his victim off the platform and jumped on his back, his weight acting as a drop while his jockeying arms prevented the unfortunate from loosening the rope.

Sloth in writers is always a symptom of an acute inner conflict, especially that laziness which renders them incapable of doing the thing which they are most looking forward to.

Perfectionists are notoriously lazy and all true artistic indolence is deeply neurotic; a pain not a pleasure.

I can relate best to the second sentence.

Today's passage comes from a book which is quoting another book, but since it's so closely related to my current state of mind, I decided it deserves to be noted. The book I read it in is called Metaphor & Memory by Cynthia Ozick and the book it's quoting is Enemies of Promise by Cyril Connolly.