"The task of a novelist is not to tell people what to think, but to make them think."
This quote by Cynthia Ozick underscores the role of a novelist as a facilitator of thought rather than a purveyor of opinions. Rather than dictating specific beliefs, the task of a novelist is to craft narratives that stimulate readers' minds, encouraging them to reflect deeply, consider various perspectives, and form their own thoughts and judgments. This approach fosters a more meaningful and personal connection with the literary work, promoting intellectual growth and empathy.
"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
This quote emphasizes that art, like moral principles, requires a decision-maker to establish boundaries or limits. Just as moral decisions involve choosing between right and wrong, artistic creation involves selecting what elements to include or exclude, determining the style, themes, and message in a work of art. The line drawn can be personal, cultural, or universal, but it's crucial for defining an artwork's identity and character. The quote suggests that the act of creating art is not just about expressing oneself, but also about making choices that reflect one's values and perspectives in a deliberate and purposeful manner.
"Time, like life itself, has no inherent meaning; we bring our own meaning to both."
This quote by Cynthia Ozick highlights that the significance or purpose in time (and by extension, life) is not innate but derived from individual perspectives and interpretations. In other words, our personal experiences, beliefs, and values assign meaning to both time and life, rather than inherently possessing a predetermined sense of importance or purpose.
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."
This quote emphasizes that the past, as compared to the present, is a distinct and unfamiliar entity. The customs, beliefs, values, and behaviors in the past are not necessarily the same as those in the present. Therefore, understanding and interpreting historical events requires a degree of empathy and imagination, as we try to "understand" and "do things" like they did "over there," in that foreign country that is the past.
"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
This quote by Cynthia Ozick suggests a deep unease and discomfort with the past, particularly when it is filled with pain, conflict, or injustice. She yearns for liberation from the burdens of history, as if it were a recurring nightmare. This sentiment implies a desire to move beyond the mistakes of the past and create a new, improved present and future, free from the shadows cast by historical events.
I think a fictional invention grows according to its own development, not the author's. Characters in fiction are not simply as alive as you and me, they are more alive. Becky Sharp, Elizabeth Bennett, and Don Quixote may not outlive the burning out of the sun, but they will certainly outlive the brief candle of our lives.
- Cynthia Ozick
If I've ever regretted anything, it was putting all my eggs in one basket, holing up and kneeling at the altar of literature, instead of going out and at least reviewing, running around and trying to write for magazines. That would've been the intelligent thing to do, but I didn't, and that was because of fanaticism.
- Cynthia Ozick
I'm afraid that the act of writing is so scary and anxiety-filled that I never laugh at all. In fact, when people tell me that such and such a scene or story is comical, I tend to gape. I did not intend comedy - ever, as far as I know. It's probably all a mistake. I am essentially a lugubrious writer. Ha ha!
- Cynthia Ozick
No one can teach writing, but classes may stimulate the urge to write. If you are born a writer, you will inevitably and helplessly write. A born writer has self-knowledge. Read, read, read. And if you are a fiction writer, don't confine yourself to reading fiction. Every writer is first a wide reader.
- Cynthia Ozick
To say that such-and-such a circumstance is 'Kafkaesque' is to admit to the denigration of an imagination that has burned a hole in what we take to be modernism - even in what we take to be the ordinary fabric and intent of language. Nothing is like 'The Hunger Artist.' Nothing is like 'The Metamorphosis.'
- Cynthia Ozick
In an essay, you have the outcome in your pocket before you set out on your journey, and very rarely do you make an intellectual or psychological discovery. But when you write fiction, you don't know where you are going - sometimes down to the last paragraph - and that is the pleasure of it.
- Cynthia Ozick
A novel can be set in motion by an incident, a character, a location, a mood - by anything at all. Sometimes the stimulus can be an idea, which will rapidly clothe itself in character and incident. 'Foreign Bodies' came about through the contemplation of the contrast between post-second world war America and Europe.
- Cynthia Ozick
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