Every art is a church without communicants, presided over by a parish of the respectable. An artist is born kneeling; he fights to stand. A critic, by nature of the judgment seat, is born sitting.

Hortense Calisher

Words Art Artist Church

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The words! I collected them in all shapes and sizes and hung them like bangles in my mind.

— Hortense Calisher

A happy childhood can't be cured. Mine'll hang around my neck like a rainbow, that's all, instead of a noose.

— Hortense Calisher

When anything gets freed, a zest goes round the world.

— Hortense Calisher

First publication is a pure, carnal leap into that dark which one dreams is life.

— Hortense Calisher

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This is my answer to the gap between ideas and action - I will write it out.

— Hortense Calisher