Original artwork, not a still
The Living Novel: A Symposium · 1957
There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argument is an undeniably good book.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker holds that the only real way to defeat an enemy is through craft: writing as well as possible. Rather than trading blows or debating, the answer is producing a work whose quality cannot be denied. Excellence itself becomes the strongest form of argument.
Context reviewed
