Good literature may tell us the mind of one man; but bad literature may tell us the mind of many men.
 G. K. Chesterton, Heretics (1905). copy citation

add
Author G. K. Chesterton
Source Heretics
Topic literature mind
Date 1905
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/470/470-h/470-h.htm

Context

“They say they wish to be, as strong as the universe, but they really wish the whole universe as weak as themselves. XV On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set In one sense, at any rate, it is more valuable to read bad literature than good literature. Good literature may tell us the mind of one man; but bad literature may tell us the mind of many men. A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author. It does much more than that, it tells us the truth about its readers; and, oddly enough, it tells us this all the more the more cynical and immoral be the motive of its manufacture.” source