A writer need not devour a whole sheep in order to know what mutton tastes like, but he must at least eat a chop. Unless he gets his facts right, his imagination will lead him into all kinds of nonsense, and the facts he is most likely to get right are the facts of his own experience.
**This quote highlights the importance of rooted knowledge and firsthand experience in effective writing. It underscores that a writer doesn't need to engage with every detail or aspect of a subject before they can write about it convincingly; they just need to have engaged enough to understand its core essence. The metaphor of dining โ eating a