A line from Raymond Roussel

Confusing yourself with a deity 
or royalty once your first book
has been published is possibly
taking it a bit too far. But then 

this is a common trope. Le Roi 
Soleil, the Sun King, as Louis XIV
used to daub himself, is just one
example. But why doubt your-

self when you can play piano &
write songs to go along, & your
family's rich, & . . . Obviously 
there is nothing to impede the 

tremendous light that you think
you give off, that blinds you to 
the fact that nobody likes you all 
that much. Until after your death, 

& then the admiration is wasted 
because you're not around to revel 
in it, to see the believers line up, to 
name a society after you. Nor would

their names mean anything to you, as
none of them were around when you
were. But it's a mindblowing list, &
makes us wonder just who you were.