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Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith Quotes

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Famous Patricia Highsmith Quotes

“Fantasy, an unflagging optimism is necessary for a writer at all stages of this rough game. A kind of madness is therefore necessary, when there is every logical reason for a state of depression and discouragement. Perhaps the fact that I can react with utter gloom to this is what keeps me from being psychotic and keeps me merely neurotic. I am doing quite a good day's work today. But I am also aware of the madness that actually sustains me, and I am not made more comfortable or happy by it.”

WritingReasonWorkFantasyDepressionComfortableOptimismMadnessHappyWriterRoughNeuroticGloomGameDiscouragementPsychoticPsychosisNecessarySustainStagesNeuroses
Author:Patricia Highsmith
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“What immense satisfaction it must be to fashion a story like [Maupassant's]! One must say 'fashion' because it is not merely writing, but massing and cutting away like a sculptor, chiseling lean and clear. And to put one's work confidently in the crucible of Time; to know that in six perfect pages is the finest form of one's idea: This satisfaction is the only true reward of the artist, and this his highest possible joy on Earth.”

WritingFormJoyArtistTimePerfectClearCuttingConfidenceSatisfactionStoryFinestRewardSculptingLeanSculptorChiselingMassing
Author:Patricia Highsmith
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