But at this point experience tells me that the work of an academic
survives with great difficulty because theories change. Aristotle
survives, but countless texts from academics of just one century ago
are not republished. Whereas many novels are continuously republished.
So technically speaking there are more chances to survive as a
writer than as an academic, and I take into account these pieces of
evidence independently from my own wishes.
U. Eco, The art of novel, Paris Review, 197
