"The measure of artistic merit is the..." - Quote by John Updike
The measure of artistic merit is the length to which a writer is willing to go in following his own compulsions.
More by John Updike
“I write about, more or less, everything I can think of, that is I stretch my imagination as far as it'll go. I am kind of stuck in the middle as far as my life goes, and hence my imagination tends to zero in on things which are indeed in the middle. That is, I don't write about the very rich, who I scarcely know, or the very poor who I don't know very well either.”
“I suppose sequels are inevitable for a writer of a certain age.”
“All blessings are mixed blessings.”
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“Most of the note-taking happens while I'm watching television. It's a broad window on the world, and a lot of things are already established in my mind as things I say, things that I'm interested in, things that are fodder for my [stand-up] machine. And when I see something that relates to one of them, I know it instantly and if it's a further exaggeration and a further addition, or an exception - if it plays into furthering my purpose, I jot it down.”
“Eccentricities of genius.”
“The creative act is not hanging on, but yielding to a new creative movement. Awe is what moves us forward.”