Quote #45

Each of them is inhabited by a bland demon, as the German metaphysicians used to call that which gets into a man and makes him creative, not so forcibly that it turns them away from criticism, but valid enough to give them the right to speak with the authority of artists.

More from Edith Sitwell

  1. Her tall figure, swathed in black, looking like some strange eccentric bird... she seemed like an ageing princess come home from exile.
  2. I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or…
  3. It is a part of the poet's work to show each man what he sees but does not know he sees.
  4. Small things I handled and caressed and loved. I let the stars assume the whole of night. But the big answers clamoured to be moved Into my…
  5. I'm afraid I'm being an awful nuisance.
  6. Good taste is the worst vice ever invented.
  7. I am resigned to the fact that people who don't know me loathe me. Perhaps it is because I am a woman writing poetry. It must be annoying t…
  8. The aim of flattery is to soothe and encourage us by assuring us of the truth of an opinion we have already formed about ourselves.

All Edith Sitwell quotes