Art is not difficult because...

Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, rather because it wishes to be art. However much the writer might long to [be] straightforward ... He discovers that in being simple, honest, straightforward, nothing much happens.

... beginning a new book ... [novelists] are utterly baffled as to how to proceed, what should be written and how it might be written ... The not-knowing is not simple, because it's hedged about with prohibitions, roads that may not be taken. The more serious the artist, the more problems he takes into account, the more considerations limit his possible initiatives.
- Donald Barthelme Obituary (source: NY Times, July 24, 1989)