I think I succeeded as a writer because I did not come out of an English department. I used to write in the chemistry department. And I wrote some good stuff. If I had been in the English department, the prof would have looked at my short stories, congratulated me on my talent, and then showed me how Joyce or Hemingway handled the same elements of the short story. The prof would have placed me in competition with the greatest writers of all time, and that would have ended my writing career. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
About This Quote

A well-known fiction writer said, “I think I succeeded as a writer because I did not come out of an English department.” This is a true story. The author was a student at the University of Chicago, and he was asked by his English professor what he intended to write about when he grew up. He answered that he intended to become a novelist. Then, the professor asked him if he had read any authors in the English department that had influenced his writing.

The student answered that he had not and the professor said: "You see, you didn't come out of an English department. You used to write in the chemistry department."

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