Literary Birthday – 28 December – Simon Raven

Simon Raven was born 28 December 1927 and died 12 May 2001.

Quotes

1. Art for art’s sake, money for God’s sake.
2. Gentlemen can now only behave as such, or be tolerated as such, in circumstances that are manifestly contrived or unreal.
3. Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.
4. We aren’t here for long, and when we do go, that’s that. Finish. So, for God’s sake, enjoy yourself now – and sod anyone who tries to stop you. (via)
5. I arrange words in pleasing patterns in order to make money . . . I try to be neat, intelligent, and lucid; let others be ‘creative‘ or ‘inspired’. (via)
6. I’ve always written for a small audience of people like myself, who are well-educated, worldly, sceptical and snobbish (meaning that they rank good taste over bad). (via)

Simon Raven was an English novelist, essayist, and dramatist. He was a raconteur who caused controversy, amusement, and offence in his writing career of 40 years. He wrote 25 novels, including Alms for Oblivion, a 10-volume saga of English upper-class life, numerous screenplays, eight volumes of essays, and memoirs, including Shadows On The Grass – ‘the filthiest book on cricket ever written,’ according to EW Swanton.

Image of author

 by Amanda Patterson

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