H. L. Mencken's Contempt

I am never much interested in the effects of what I write. I seldom read with any attention the reviews of my books. Two times out of three I know something about the reviewer, and in very few cases have I any respect for his judgments. Thus his praise, if he praises me, leaves me unmoved. I can't recall any review that has even influenced me in the slightest. I live in sort of a vacuum, and I suspect that most other writers do, too. It is hard to imagine one of the great ones paying any serious attention to contemporary opinion.

H. L. Mencken in Diary of H. L. Mencken, edited by Charles A. Fecher, 1989