You can't quantify human pain the way you can measure out sugar. Death comes one individual at a time.
Yann MartelRead
Every book I've written has been a different attempt to understand something, and the success or failure of the previous one is irrelevant. I write the book I want.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the idea that the process of writing is more important than the outcome, emphasizing personal exploration over external validation.
Yann Martel's quote highlights the intrinsic value of writing as a means of understanding oneself and the world. He suggests that the act of creating literature is a personal journey of inquiry, where each book represents a different facet of his exploration. Success or failure in previous works does not dictate his current endeavors; instead, he focuses on writing for his own fulfillment and insight, which underscores the significance of personal motivations in creative expression.
Themes
WritingUnderstandingCreativitySuccessPersonal
In practice
Example use cases
In a literature class, discussing how authors pursue their own understanding through their works.
More from Yann Martel
All quotes βCome aboard if your destination is oblivion- it should be our next stop. We can sit together. You can have the window seat if you want. But it's a sad view.
Yann MartelRead
Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to emotional and psychological truths.
Yann MartelRead
The moon was a sharply defined crescent and the sky was perfectly clear. The stars shone with such fierce, contained brilliance that it seemed absurd to call the night dark.
Yann MartelRead
I thought they were helping me. I was so full of trust in them that I felt grateful as they carried me in the air. Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts.
Yann MartelRead
Art is a gift: you create and then you give away. How readers receive that gift is their business. If they hate it, thatβs their response to it. Others respond by liking it. Either way, that is their interaction with the book, which is no longer mine.
Yann MartelRead
Similar quotes
Being at the top of your game intellectually, philosophically, politically, is not a forever thing.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
He is a despicable sage whose wisdom does not profit himself.
Publilius SyrusRead
The source of all abundance is not outside of you. It's a part of who you are.
Eckhart TolleRead
He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
I'm a person that carries everything that happened to me in my past, with me into the future. I refuse to let it make me bitter. I still completely believe in love and I remain open to anything that will happen to me.
Nicole KidmanRead
When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response.
Indra NooyiRead