Cyril Connolly on the perils of promise

Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first call promising…Young writers if they are to mature require a period of between three and seven years in which to live down their promise. Promise is like the mediaeval hangman who after settling the noose, pushed his victim off the platform and jumped on his back, his weight acting a drop while his jockeying arms prevented the unfortunate from loosening the rope. When he judged him dead he dropped to the ground.

—Cyril Connolly, Enemies of Promise