“Is style–that convenience of settling oneself in and pinpointing the world–really the man? That questionable achievement bringing praise to the reveling author? His assumed gift is going to stick to him, slowly turning him sclerotic. Style: sign (a bad one) of an unchanged distance (but that could have, should have, changed), a distance where he mistakenly stays and one he maintains regarding his being, things, and individuals. Blocked! He threw himself into his style (or laboriously sought it out). For a life on loan, he let go of his wholeness, his possibility for change, mutation. Nothing to be proud of. Style that will become lack of courage, lack of openness, of renewal: in sum, an infirmity. Try to get out of it. Go far enough into yourself that your style can’t follow.”
-Henri Michaux, Tent Posts