Helen Vendler on the "writing self": quote of the day

"The writing self does not have to be virtuous in the ordinary sense of the word; but it does have to be extraordinarily virtuous in its aesthetic moves. It must refuse—against the claims of fatigue, charm, popularity, money, and so on—the idée reçue, the imprecise word, the tired rhythm, the replication of past effects, the uninvestigated stanza. It is this heroic virtue in the realm of aesthetic endeavor that courses in great authors exist to teach (as courses in "texts" do not)." (Helen Vendler from Soul Says: On Recent Poetry)