QuoteProject
I got this idea of doing a really serious big work-it would be precisely like a novel, with a single difference: Every word of it would be true from beginning to end.
Truman Capote
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Capote emphasizes the importance of truth in storytelling, suggesting that authenticity can be as profound as fiction.

In this quote, Truman Capote presents the idea that a significant work, akin to a novel, can stand out if it is entirely based on truth. He highlights the power of reality as a narrative device, suggesting that honest storytelling can evoke deep emotions and thoughts, just as fictional stories can.

Themes

TruthAuthenticityStorytellingLiteratureNovel

In practice

Example use cases

In a literary discussion about the role of truth in writing.

More from Truman Capote

I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany´s.
Truman CapoteRead
All writing, all art, is an act of faith. If one tries to contribute to human understanding, how can that be called decadent? It's like saying a declaration of love is an act of decadence. Any work of art, provide it springs from a sincere motivation to further understanding between people, is an act of faith and therefore is an act of love.
Truman CapoteRead
No one will ever know what 'In Cold Blood' took out of me. It scraped me right down to the marrow of my bones. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.
Truman CapoteRead
Hot weather opens the skull of a city, exposing its white brain, and its heart of nerves, which sizzle like the wires inside a lightbulb. And there exudes a sour extra-human smell that makes the very stone seem flesh-alive, webbed and pulsing.
Truman CapoteRead
I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together.
Truman CapoteRead
The quietness of his tone italicized the malice of his reply.
Truman CapoteRead

Similar quotes

It's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home. And what is wonderful about movies is that once they're done, they belong to the people. Once you make it, it's what they see. That's where my head is at.
Denzel WashingtonRead
When I record an album I'm trying to get as close as possible to that perfect moment.
Lou ReedRead
All fiction, if it's successful, is going to appeal to the emotions. Emotion is really what fiction is all about. That's not to say fiction can't be thoughtful, or present some interesting or provocative ideas to make us think. But if you want to present an intellectual argument, nonfiction is a better tool. You can drive a nail with a shoe but a hammer is a better tool for that. But fiction is about emotional resonance, about making us feel things on a primal and visceral level.
George R. R. MartinRead
There's a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to. It's like trying to write a song, making tiny tweaks, reading it out loud, shifting things to make it sound a certain way... Sometimes it feels like digging out of a hole, but sometimes it feels like flying. When it's working and the rhythm's there, it does feel like magic to me.
Susan OrleanRead
Beginning a novel is always hard. It feels like going nowhere. I always have to write at least 100 pages that go into the trashcan before it finally begins to work. It's discouraging, but necessary to write those pages. I try to consider them pages -100 to zero of the novel.
Barbara KingsolverRead
My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.
Steve MccurryRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.