More from J. D. Salinger
- Zooey (1957)
- Teddy (1953)
The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.
Seymour: An Introduction (1959)
People/J. D. Salinger/Quote

I’m known as a strange, aloof kind of man. But all I’m doing is trying to protect myself and my work.
Statements to New York Times reporter Lacey Fosburgh, as quoted in Salinger: A Biography (2000) by Paul Alexander
Quote and source from Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0
The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.