Alive Quote by Ernest Hemingway
“I am opposed to writing about the private lives of living authors and psychoanalyzing them while they are alive. Criticism is getting all mixed up with a combination of the Junior FBI-men, discards from Freud and Jung and a sort of Columnist peep-hole and missing laundry list school. ... Every young English professor sees gold in them dirty sheets now. Imagine what they can do with the soiled sheets of four legal beds by the same writer and you can see why their tongues are slavering.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Criticism of Literary Biography, 1970s, null
The quote condemns invasive analysis of living authors, likening it to intrusive surveillance and trivial gossip.
In simple terms: Avoid prying into authors' private lives.
Key Takeaway
Respect privacy; focus on work.
Themes
privacy
ethics
literary criticism
authorial rights
media intrusion
Mood
critical
defensive
Type
ethical
analytical
When to use this quote
- academic conferences
- book reviews
- media interviews
- literary festivals
Key Concepts
celebrity culture
psychoanalysis
journalism
intellectual property
Questions to Reflect On
- Is it possible to critique work without invading personal life?
- How do we balance curiosity with respect?
A Different Perspective
Such analysis can still reveal useful insights about creative process.
