"<p></p> <p>The writer should not expect anything from the world. All that the world can give - money, wealth, recognition, medals, social honors - will reflect on his work, his spiritual balance, and the moral strength of his work. The writer should not aspire to be a social authority; he loses precisely as much of the moral weight of his work as he rises in social esteem. The writer cannot have any title or rank; he can have only one title and rank, his name. And his only possession in the world is his work. And let him not accumulate money, nor movable or immovable valuables; let him so organize his life that he may be freer in his work, that he may not have to write a single line which he does not feel like writing, and that he may accept only such payment as he may, in his best faith, and without compromise, or regard to social or fashionable considerations, consider the value of his written work. And let him not care whether he "likes" or not what he writes - and let him not care what becomes of his work in life and the afterlife. Let the writer remain poor. And if gold is sometimes thrown at him with a shovel, let him have the strength to turn away from success. And if he is greedily marked with a medal by a hand, let him one-handed refuse the intruders. Never politicize; always judge; and of course, judge yourself first and most severely. Otherwise, you have no right to call yourself a writer.</p>"