Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Sol Stein

Quote by Sol Stein

“The fact that acute differences exist between social and cultural classes seems to be acknowledged in most of the world, but in the United States, where democracy is often confounded with egalitarianism, even the idea that social classes exist has long been taboo. It is, however, a writer’s specialty to deal with taboos, to speak the unspoken, to reveal, to uncover, to show in the interaction of people the difference between what we profess and how we act. Moreover, because touchy subjects arouse emotion, they are especially useful for the writer who knows that arousing the emotions of his audience is the test of his skill.”

Quote by Sol Stein

Work

Stein on Writing

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Sol Stein
Sol Stein

Sol Stein is a renowned American author, editor, and publisher, born on October 13, 1926. He is known for his unique editing skills and profound understanding of literary creation, having edited works of many notable authors, including James Joyce and Norman Mailer. more

You May Also Like

“But the underlying capability of the computer era is actually programming—which almost none of us knows how to do. We simply use the programs that have been made for us, and enter our text in the appropriate box on the screen. We teach kids how to use software to write, but not how to write software. This means they have access to the capabilities given to them by others, but not the power to determine the value-creating capabilities of these technologies for themselves.”

“Exactly! Ever heard of King Arthur’s circular table? A circular table was selected to symbolize that all the people sitting on it were equal and their opinions mattered equally. We are sitting on a circular table, but is there equal freedom of speech and expression right now? There is no ‘head’ to this table, and yet we INSURGENTS---- why do we have to be called INSURGENTS for our voices----yeah, we INSURGENTS are put under you ALLIES just for mentioning our concerns! Isn’t that unconstitutional?”

“He could put up with his meaningless office-life, because he never for an instant thought of it as permanent. God knew how or when, he was going to break free of it. After all, there was always his “writing.” Some day, perhaps, he might be able to make a living of sorts by “writing;” and you’d feel you were free of the money-stink if you were a “writer,” would you not? The types he saw all around him, especially the older men, made him squirm. That is what it meant to worship the money-god! To settle down, to Make Good, to sell your soul for a villa and an aspidistra! To turn into the typical bowler-hatted sneak – Strube’s “little man” – the little docile cit who slips home by the six-fifteen to a supper of cottage pie and stewed tinned pears, half an hour’s listening-in to the BBC Symphony Concert, and then perhaps a spot of licit sexual intercourse if his wife “feels in the mood!” What a fate! No, it isn’t like that that one was meant to live. One’s got to get right out of it, out of the money stink.”

“In our country we use different words [than feminism] which mean the liberation or the emancipation of women. Of course I believe in the emancipation of women. It will change a lot of things in society for the better. But, you know, the class patriarchal system under which we live oppresses men too and the discrimination from which women suffer is not good for the life of men. Don’t you think so?”