“Writers who get written about become self-conscious. They develop a regrettable habit of looking at themselves through the eyes of other people. They are no longer alone, they have an investment in critical praise, and they think they must protect it. This leads to a diffusion of effort. The writer watches himself as he works. He grows more subtle and he pays for it by loss of organic dash.” PeopleThinkingWritingSelfEyeGrowsLossEffortPayWatchesWrittenHabitProtectConsciousPraiseInvestmentCriticalSubtleSelf ConsciousThrough The EyesDiffusion Book:Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler Source: Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler
“The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon the people by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as a matter of taste, just as it is in Holland.” PeopleFirstsMatterHousePositionBuildingHabitTasteChosenHollandBuilding Houses Book:Anahuac; Or, Mexico and the Mexicans: Ancient and Modern Source: Anahuac; Or, Mexico and the Mexicans: Ancient and Modern