"The truth seems to be, that like many other geniuses, this Man of Mosses takes great delight in hoodwinking the world, — at least, with respect to himself. Personally, I doubt not, that he rather prefers to be generally esteemed but a so-so sort of author; being willing to reserve the thorough and acute appreciation of what he is, to that party most qualified to judge — that is, to himself. Besides, at the bottom of their natures, men like Hawthorne, in many things, deem the plaudits of the public such strong presumptive evidence of mediocrity in the object of them, that it would in some degree render them doubtful of their own powers, did they hear much and vociferous braying concerning them in the public."
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Short story writers from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesEditors from the United StatesPolitical authors from the United StatesCritics from the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
Herman Melville, in "Hawthorne and His Mosses" (1851)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804 – 1864
US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
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