The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
I don’t want your candor. I want your soul in a silver thimble.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire for deep emotional connection over superficial honesty.
In this quote, Don DeLillo emphasizes the importance of intimacy and the need for genuine emotional engagement rather than mere straightforwardness. The metaphor of wanting someone’s 'soul in a silver thimble' suggests a longing for a treasured, delicate part of a person, reflecting a desire for something precious and rare in relationships, rather than the bare truth of their thoughts or feelings.
In practice
This quote could be shared at a wedding to highlight the importance of emotional depth in marriage.
The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
There's one sad truth in life I've found While journeying east and west - The only folks we really wound Are those we love the best. We flatter those we scarcely know, We please the fleeting guest, And deal full many a thoughtless blow To those who love us best.
I was born of heterosexual parents. I was taught by heterosexual teachers in a fiercely heterosexual society. Television ads and newspaper ads — fiercely heterosexual. A society that puts down homosexuality. And why am I a homosexual if I'm affected by role models? I should have been a heterosexual. And no offense meant, but if teachers are going to affect you as role models, there'd be a lot of nuns running around the streets today.
There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude... we cannot give someone else greater power over us than we have ourselves.
You can't make someone feel good about themselves until you feel good about yourself.
No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.
I believe that women should live for love, for motherhood and for intellect, and I believe we shouldn't have to choose. And I believe that's always been difficult for women, to express themselves intellectually, maternally, and passionately.
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