Cyril Connolly

Cyril Connolly

Cyril Vernon Connolly (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon (1940–1949) and wrote Enemies of Promise (1938), which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of fiction that he had aspired to be in his youth.

Read more about Cyril Connolly:  Early Life, Eton, Oxford, Drifting, Beginning of Literary Career, Marriage, First Books, Horizon, Personal Life, Assessment, References in Popular Culture, Quotes, Works, Biographies

Famous quotes by cyril connolly:

    Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    There cannot be a personal God without a pessimistic religion. As soon as there is a personal God he is a disappointing God.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    The more books we read, the clearer it becomes that the true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and that no other task is of any consequence.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    Dining-out is a vice, a dissipation of spirit punished by remorse. We eat, drink and talk a little too much, abuse all our friends, belch out our literary preferences and are egged on by accomplices in the audience to acts of mental exhibitionism. Such evenings cannot fail to diminish those who take part in them.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)