writing is the occupation
I just ran across this quote by Jules Renard:
Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
To be truthful, I laughed when I first read it. But then I started to think about it, and now I'm unclear on what it's supposed to mean, and if there's much truth in it at all. Any artistic endeavor could replace 'writing' in this sentiment:
Sculpture is an is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
And what about this:
Soccer is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
So maybe it doesn't mean anything at all, but it did make me laugh.
Oh, me no likey that quote. Besides the fact that spending a whole lot of one's time "proving" anything (unless one is a mathematician or a scientist) sounds terribly unappealing to me, it definitely seems to place the writer in a privileged position, doesn't it (and I say this as someone who writes for a living)? Reversing the implication, does that mean anyone else of talent would immediately recognize the writer in this instance? Talk about a circular argument!
It is odd, isn't it? At first it seems to be a bit of elitist snobbery and then it turns out not to mean anything at all.
It reminds me of the "They're just jealous." defense to various etiquette infractions. Doesn't make any profession sound worth spending time doing well if the audience can't appreciate the outcome. Is there more context?
I'm sure there is context, but I don't have it. I just saw this on a collection of quotes about writing.
Sometime I have to put together a collection of quotes that sound profound but are in fact pretty dopey. This would be on the list.
After overanalyzing the quotation, I do agree it comes off as elitist snobbery, but I sense it's that the author feels he's under-appreciated by his readers, that perhaps maybe they do not understand what a great talent he was or the hard work it entails to keep coming up with brilliant work.
or something like that.
As a grant writer I think my job is too mystified for that statement to work. Few people understand what I do, except the people that review the grants and maybe not even them.
At first it seems to be a bit of elitist snobbery and then it turns out not to mean anything at all.
At the level of the statement itself, you're absolutely right. But maybe it's the kind of statement that means something to the "wrong" people? I have this line in my head, "it offends the right sort of people," but can't remember where in the hell it comes from (book or movie) and what the context is. But it came to mind when I read your comment.