The greatest fortune that can befall an author is not to be read, a painter not to be seen, or to be seen with haste, like on those horrendous group museum tours: as long as the work is talked about, obviously. Or, if they see you, if they read you, you’re fortunate to be misunderstood. If they understand you, no one will think you’re right; if they don’t understand you, everyone will project onto you their inchoate desires, their secret dreams. And your success is assured.

- Paul Klee, explaining to a writer the benefits of not being read, from Giovanni Orelli’s Walaschek’s Dream (trans. by Jamie Richards). (via writersnoonereads)