Literary Birthday – 18 March – George Plimpton

Six Quotes

1. I never understood people who don’t have bookshelves.
2. Art has something to do with the arrest of attention in the midst of distraction.
3. Well, I have to write. A lot of people forget that. They think I’m sort of crazy buffoon who can’t make up his mind what to do in life
4. I have never been convinced there’s anything inherently wrong in having fun.
5. As happens with people who love a thing too much, it destroys them.
6. Oscar Wilde said, ‘You destroy the thing that you love.’ It’s the other way around. What you love destroys you.

George Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review. A selection of his writing is available in The Best of Plimpton.

by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar