“What's any artist, but the dregs of his work? the human shambles that follows it around. What's left of the man when the work's done but a shambles of apology.”

— William Gaddis , book The Recognitions

Source: The Recognitions

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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William Gaddis 8

Novelist 1922–1998

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“The true test of any scholar's work is not what his contemporaries say, but what happens to his work in the next 25 or 50 years.”

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Context: The true test of any scholar's work is not what his contemporaries say, but what happens to his work in the next 25 or 50 years. And the thing that I will really be proud of is if some of the work I have done is still cited in the text books long after I am gone.

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Dem Reichen übergibt der Baumeister mit dem Schlüssel des Palastes alle Bequemlichkeit und Behäbigkeit, ohne irgend etwas davon mitzugenießen. Muß sich nicht allgemach auf diese Weise die Kunst von dem Künstler entfernen, wenn das Werk wie ein ausgestattetes Kind nicht mehr auf den Vater zurückwirkt? Und wie sehr mußte die Kunst sich selbst befördern, als sie fast allein mit dem öffentlichen, mit dem, was allen und also auch dem Künstler gehörte, sich zu beschäftigen bestimmt war!
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“[This work] would be inexcusable to suppose it to be exhaustive. It is not even defensive. It is a projectile, and projectiles do not apologize.
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Ce qu'on appelle la postérité, c'est la postérité de l'œuvre.
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“An artist without a heart is worth nothing. Before creating any work, the true artist gives voice to his heart.”

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Source: prevale.net

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“What's any artist, but the dregs of his work? the human shambles that follows it around. What's left of the man when the work's done but a shambles of apology.”

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William Gaddis 8

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