No author, I think, is deserving of much censure for vanity if, taking down one of his ten-year-old books, he exclaims: 'Great heavens, did I write as well as that then?' for the implication always is that one does not write any longer so well and few are so envious as to censure the complacencies of an extinct volcano.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Authors often feel relief when revisiting old work because it suggests their current skills have declined, yet this self-deprecation is harmless vanity.
- In plain terms
- Writers look back at old books and feel they wrote better then, which is a safe kind of pride.
- What can you take from it?
- Self-deprecation about past work is a safe form of vanity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you view your past work?
- Is vanity always bad?
Another view
It assumes one writes worse now without proof.
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