“It is fatal to suppose the great writer was too wise or too profound for us ever to understand him; to think of art so is not to praise but to murder it, for the next step after that tribute will be neglect of the masterpiece.”
— John Erskine
“Whenever we read a book we love, we change it, to some extent. We read into it our own interpretations, and the meanings which the words have taken on in our time. If a book is so rigid that it cannot lend itself to these fluctuations, it is useful only while it seems strictly true, and afterwards it is completely out of date.”
— John Erskine
“Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.”
– John Erskine
“There’s a difference between beauty and charm. A beautiful woman is one I notice. A charming woman is one who notices me.”
– John Erskine