--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound?…" description: "\"Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? — once said that anything that can be read twice is literature; I would say that anything that bears saying twice..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/joseph-epstein-10324_bears_someone-cyril-connolly-ezra-pound-once-s_1434584.png" --- # Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? — once said that… ![“Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? — once said that anything that can be read twice is literature; I would say that anything that bears saying twice is quotable.” quote by Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/joseph-epstein-10324_bears_someone-cyril-connolly-ezra-pound-once-s_1434584.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/joseph-epstein-10324_bears_someone-cyril-connolly-ezra-pound-once-s_1434584.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/joseph-epstein-10324_bears_someone-cyril-connolly-ezra-pound-once-s_1434584.png) > “Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? — once said that anything that can be read twice is literature; I would say that anything that bears saying twice is quotable.” [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature should reward rereading; quotable ideas merit repeated expression. **In simple terms:** Reread good works; repeat good ideas. Key Takeaway Seek works worth revisiting. Themes literature quotability reading repetition value Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical observational When to use this quote - book clubs - academic study - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts Aesthetics memetics cultural transmission Questions to Reflect On - What makes a text worth rereading? - When does repetition become cliché? A Different Perspective Not all repeated texts are profound; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [...If a thing isn't worth saying twice, it probably wasn't worth saying once...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-crossley/if-a-thing-isn-t-worth-saying-twice-it-probably-wasn-t-worth-saying/) Peter Crossley > [From this simple phenomenon, this idea of saying something twice, more often, as often as possible, in order to make oneself understood - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/from-this-simple-phenomenon-this-idea-of-saying-something-twice-more/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [I'm trying to cause people to be interested in the particulars of their lives because I think that's one thing literature can do for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-m-trying-to-cause-people-to-be-interested-in-the-particulars-of/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [Above literature?' said the Queen. 'Who is above literature? You might as well say one was above humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/above-literature-said-the-queen-who-is-above-literature-you-might-as/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [“I would have thought," said the prime minister, "that Your Majesty was above literature." "Above literature?" said the Queen. "Who is above literature? You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-would-have-thought-said-the-prime-minister-that-your-majesty-was/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [The love of writing comes at a very early age. For me, for instance, comic books so affected me. And a lot of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/the-love-of-writing-comes-at-a-very-early-age-for-me-for-instance/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“I’ve seen middle grade books criticized by adult readers for leaving things for the reader to figure out, for not having perfect happily-ever-after endings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/i-ve-seen-middle-grade-books-criticized-by-adult-readers-for-leaving/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [A passage is not plain English - still less is it good English - if we are obliged to read it twice to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/a-passage-is-not-plain-english-still-less-is-it-good-english-if-we/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [My request that my writing be read twice has aroused great indignation. Unjustly so. 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Three things, I answered: first, one must cultivate incompetence at almost every other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/i-was-recently-asked-what-it-takes-to-become-a-writer-three-things-i/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [“To be in the middle of composing a book is almost always to feel oneself in a state of confusion, doubt and mental imprisonment…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/to-be-in-the-middle-of-composing-a-book-is-almost-always-to-feel/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [I am the heterosexual Truman Capote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/i-am-the-heterosexual-truman-capote/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Not to like ice cream is to show oneself uninterested in food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/not-to-like-ice-cream-is-to-show-oneself-uninterested-in-food/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [We who are quotatious are never truly alone, but always hear the cheerful flow of remarks made by dead writers so much more intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/we-who-are-quotatious-are-never-truly-alone-but-always-hear-the/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Culture means, I think, that you have widened your experience enough through reading and through being a little bit thoughtful about these things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/culture-means-i-think-that-you-have-widened-your-experience-enough/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Food has it over sex for variety. Hedonistically, gustatory possibilities are much broader than copulatory ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/food-has-it-over-sex-for-variety-hedonistically-gustatory/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [“Getting rid of most of my personal library comported nicely with my longheld fantasy of traveling light, existing with minimal encumbrances, living simply. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/getting-rid-of-most-of-my-personal-library-comported-nicely-with-my/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Envy is never general, but always very particular - at least envy of the kind one feels strongly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/envy-is-never-general-but-always-very-particular-at-least-envy-of-the/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Many moons ago dictionaries of quotations may have been less needed than they are today. In those good/bad old days, people walked around with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/many-moons-ago-dictionaries-of-quotations-may-have-been-less-needed/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/of-the-seven-deadly-sins-only-envy-is-no-fun-at-all/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [I know how many days in which I have just answered e-mail, had three phone calls and a two hour lunch. Poof, gone. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/i-know-how-many-days-in-which-i-have-just-answered-e-mail-had-three/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [I am married to someone I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/i-am-married-to-someone-i-love/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) [Explore all 66 Joseph Epstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. 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Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. 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