I have an ambition to write a great book, but that's really a competition with myself. I've noticed that a lot of young writers, people in all media, want to be famous but they don't really want to do anything. I can't think of anything less worth striving for than fame.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the pursuit of personal growth over the superficial desire for fame.
Zadie Smith emphasizes the importance of having a strong personal ambition, such as writing a great book, rather than seeking fleeting fame. She criticizes the tendency of many young creatives to prioritize recognition and popularity over genuine artistic achievement and the hard work necessary to accomplish meaningful goals.
In practice
In a motivational speech for aspiring writers, I quoted Zadie Smith to inspire them to focus on their craft rather than the allure of fame.
Because immigrants have always been particularly prone to repetition - it's something to do with that experience of moving from West to East or East to West or from island to island. Even when you arrive, you're still going back and forth; your children are going round and round. There's no proper term for it - original sin seems too harsh; maybe original trauma would be better.
You know, you don't expect everyone to be as educated as everyone else or have the same achievements, but you expect at least to be offered at least some of the opportunities, and libraries are the most simple and the most open way to give people access to books.
He did not consider if or how or why he loved them. They were just love: they were the first evidence he ever had of love, and they would be the last confirmation of love when everything else fell away.
We cannot be all the writers all the time. We can only be who we are. Which leads me to my second point: writers do not write what they want, they write what they can.
I think of reading like a balanced diet; if your sentences are too baggy, too baroque, cut back on fatty Foster Wallace, say, and pick up Kafka as roughage.
I never attended a creative writing class in my life. I have a horror of them.
My grandfather has been very depressed lately. He just doesn't know what to do. He says it's late in the game, and he's afraid that life has him beaten." "Tell him to take out the goalie.
Health, power, riches, possessions and honor can be snatched from you, but your will is irrevocably your own.
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Begin to build up confidence and joy in your own richness. That richness is the essence of generosity. It is the essence of resourcefulness ; that you can deal with whatever is available around you and not feel poverty stricken.
Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
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