I used to work very long hours. Then I started to realize that the stuff that I was writing in the late afternoons, I was generally throwing out. So I quit earlier than I used to.
Robert CaroRead
I am trying to make clear through my writing something which I believe: that biography- history in general- can be literature in the deepest and highest sense of that term.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Biography can be a profound form of literature.
In this quote, Robert Caro expresses his belief that biography, and history at large, should not be viewed merely as factual accounts but rather as a form of literature that can evoke deep emotions and insights. He suggests that the stories of individuals and the events of the past hold significant literary value and can resonate with readers on a profound level.
Themes
BiographyLiteratureHistoryWritingStories
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion, one might use this quote to highlight the literary merits of a historical biography.
More from Robert Caro
All quotes βLong Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people's lives every day.
Robert CaroRead
What would be the good of rushing? You want these books to last.
Robert CaroRead
I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless
Robert CaroRead
If you really want to show power in its larger aspects, you need to show the effects on the powerless, for good or ill - the human cost of public works. That's what I try to do, show not only how power works but its effect on people.
Robert CaroRead
It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So for me, I would always have an excuse, you know, to go - quit early, go to a museum, you know. So I do everything I can to make myself remember this is a job. I keep a schedule.
Robert CaroRead
Similar quotes
All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal.
Flannery O'ConnorRead
I have said that each aspect of the novel demands a different quality of the reader. Well, the prophetic aspect demands two qualities: humility and the suspension of the sense of humour.
E. M. ForsterRead
A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct; The language plain, and incidents well link'd; Tell not as new what ev'ry body knows; and, new or old, still hasten to a close.
William CowperRead
Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.
Fernando PessoaRead
All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.
Ernest HemingwayRead
Fiction is history, human history, or it is nothing.
Joseph ConradRead