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Elizabeth Hardwick

Elizabeth Hardwick Quotes

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Famous Elizabeth Hardwick Quotes

“A letter is not a dialogue or even an omniscient exposition. It is a fabric of surfaces, a mask, a form as well suited to affectations as to the affections. The letter is, by its natural shape, self-justifying; it is one's own evidence, deposition, a self-serving testimony. In a letter the writer holds all the cards, controls everything about himself and about those assertions he wishes to make concerning events or the worth of others. For completely self-centered characters, the letter form is a complex and rewarding activity.”

WellsSelfCharacterFormWishNaturalEventsActivityShapesEvidenceLettersComplexesAffectionSurfaceDialogueCardsMaskServingFabricTestimonySelf CenteredAssertionSelf ServingOmniscient
Book:Seduction and Betrayal: Women and Literature
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“Many people believe letters the most personal and revealing form of communication. In them, we expect to find the charmer at his nap, slumped, open-mouthed, profoundly himself without thought for appearances. Yet, this is not quite true. Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and no other method of communication is quite so good for this purpose. In conversation, those uneasy eyes upon you, those lips ready with an emendation before you have begun to speak, are a powerful deterrent to unreality, even to hope.”

PeopleBelieveMeanSelfEyeFormPurposeSpeakPowerfulReadyCommunicationConversationSpeechIdealsLettersMethodLipsAppearanceRevealingNapsUneasyUnrealityDeterrentCharmers
Book:The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick
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“Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and no other method of communication is quite so good for this purpose. In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation, snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our own desires.”

InspirationalMeanSelfDesirePurposePracticeCommunicationShapesIdealsLettersMethodReformHumiliationEmbarrassing
Book:The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick
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