William Deresiewicz
American essayist and literary critic; taught English at Yale University from 1998 to 2008; author of A Jane Austen Education, Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist and The End of Solitude.
William Deresiewicz did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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True leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions
That’s the first half of the lecture: the idea that true leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions.
theamericanscholar.orgSaid 1 Mar 2010This on korrents
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An elite education can leave people unable to talk to those who are not like them
The first disadvantage of an elite education, as I learned in my kitchen that day, is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you.
theamericanscholar.orgSaid 1 Jun 2008This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
True leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions
That’s the first half of the lecture: the idea that true leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions.
Solitude and Leadership (The American Scholar) Said 1 Mar 2010
Multitasking is not thinking and impairs the ability to think, which means concentrating on one thing long enough
Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it.
Solitude and Leadership (The American Scholar) Said 1 Mar 2010
Solitude seems to be the very essence of leadership
But it seems to me that solitude is the very essence of leadership.
Solitude and Leadership (The American Scholar) Said 1 Mar 2010
Show 5 more
An elite education can leave people unable to talk to those who are not like them
The first disadvantage of an elite education, as I learned in my kitchen that day, is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (The American Scholar) Said 1 Jun 2008
An elite education gives the chance to be rich but takes away the valuable chance not to be
An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. Yet the opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (The American Scholar) Said 1 Jun 2008
Being an intellectual is not the same as being smart
But being an intellectual is not the same as being smart. Being an intellectual means more than doing your homework.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (The American Scholar) Said 1 Jun 2008
The true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers
The system forgot to teach them, along the way to the prestige admissions and the lucrative jobs, that the most important achievements can’t be measured by a letter or a number or a name. It forgot that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (The American Scholar) Said 1 Jun 2008
Introspection is the precondition of an intellectual life, and solitude is the precondition of introspection
The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (The American Scholar) Said 1 Jun 2008
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Where they publish
Newsletter deresiewicz.substack.com Derisivist, his Substack
Essays on culture, society and the arts, described on the feed as "impersonal essays" and "armchair journalism".
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
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