Writers are idolized not ...

Writers are idolized not because they love their fellow men, which is never a recommendation and in extreme instances leads to crucifixion, but because their self-love is in tune with current fears and desires, and in giving it expression they are speaking for an inarticulate multitude.
 See image
 Hugh Kingsmill

Quotes from the same author

The public mind [is] a cloudy region where only the simplest shapes are discerned with any accuracy.
 See image
 Hugh Kingsmill
Most of the avoidable suffering in life springs from our attempts to escape the unavoidable suffering inherent in the fragmentary nature of our present existence. We expect immortal satisfactions from mortal conditions, and lasting and perfect happiness in the midst of universal change. To encourage this expectation, to persuade mankind that the ideal is realizable in this world, after a few preliminary changes in external conditions, is the distinguishing mark of all charlatans, whether in thought or action.
 See image
 Hugh Kingsmill
Friends are God's apology for relations.
 See image
 Hugh Kingsmill
Charity may cover a multitude of sins, but success transmutes them into virtues.
 See image
 Hugh Kingsmill