One may enter the literary parlor via just about any door, be it the prison door, the madhouse door, or the brothel door. There is but one door one may not enter it through, which is the child room door. The critics will never forgive you such. The great Rudyard Kipling is one of a number of people to have suffered from this. I keep wondering to myself what this peculiar contempt towards anything related to childhood is all about. Michael Ende
About This Quote

Kipling was speaking to the idea that if it’s possible for a child to enter the literary parlor through any door, then it’s also possible for anyone to enter it through any door. What separates Kipling from others is his understanding that the critics will always find something wrong with any work of literature, and their ability to find fault in children’s work. Kipling knew that you can spend your entire life trying to write a work of literature but no one will ever appreciate it unless they’re children.

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