“[On Jane Austen] She was fully possessed of the idealism which is a necessary ingredient of the great satirist. If she criticized the institutions of earth, it was because she had very definite ideas regarding the institutions of heaven.”
Rebecca West“Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one's own Trojan horse.”
Rebecca West“Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.”
Rebecca West“There is no logical reason why the camel of great art should pass through the needle of mob intelligence.”
Rebecca West“Journalism: an ability to meet the challenge of filling the space.”
Rebecca West“Writing has nothing to do with communication between person and person, only with communication between different parts of a person's mind.”
Rebecca West“It is the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires.”
Rebecca West“I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure as a test of value.”
Rebecca West“Nobody likes having salt rubbed into their wounds even if it is the salt of the earth.”
Rebecca West“Nothing succeeds like failure.”
Rebecca West“There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues. That is all.”
Rebecca West