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I'm either going to be a writer or a bum.
Carl Sandburg
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the deep commitment and passion required to pursue a creative career, contrasting it with the risks of failure and disillusionment.

Carl Sandburg's quote encapsulates the struggle and determination involved in pursuing a career as a writer. It highlights the idea that a true artist must be all in, embracing both the potential for greatness and the pitfalls of failure, suggesting that in creative pursuits, the stakes are incredibly high, forcing one to fully commit to their craft or risk becoming lost and unfulfilled.

Themes

WritingCommitmentFailureArtCreativity

In practice

Example use cases

An aspiring writer might quote this to friends to express their passion for writing despite its challenges.

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Give me hunger, pain and want, Shut me out with shame and failure From your doors of gold and fame, Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger! But leave me a little love.
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Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction. See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
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My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
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There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
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A liar goes in fine clothes, a liar goes in rags, a liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes.
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