American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that aspiring for greatness can lead to mediocrity.
Gore Vidal critiques American writers who aim for greatness at the expense of their current capabilities. By focusing on becoming great rather than simply striving to be good, many writers may become trapped in a cycle of disappointment, resulting in them achieving neither. This highlights the paradox of aiming too high without acknowledgment of the skills and efforts needed to improve.
In practice
This quote could be used in a writing workshop to inspire participants to focus on the quality of their work rather than unattainable standards.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Envy is the central fact of American life.
I cook more theoretically than I do practically. My job is creative, and in the kitchen, the biggest part of my creativity is theoretical.
I long so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things require effort and disappointment and perseverance.
There is a music for lonely hearts nearly always. If the music dies down there is a silence. Almost the same as the movement of music. To know silence perfectly is to know music.
Literature is invention. Fiction is fiction. To call a story a true story is an insult to both art and truth.
A writer - and, I believe, generally all persons - must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.
To destroy is always the first step in any creation.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.