To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
I met, not long ago, a young man who aspired to become a novelist. Knowing that I was in the profession, he asked me to tell him how he should set to work to realize his ambition. I did my best to explain. 'The first thing,' I said, 'is to buy quite a lot of paper, a bottle of ink, and a pen. After that you merely have to write.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of taking simple yet essential steps to pursue one's creative aspirations.
Aldous Huxley highlights the initial steps required to embark on a journey toward becoming a novelist. He implies that while ambition is important, the practical act of writing—equipped with basic tools like paper, ink, and a pen—is what ultimately allows a writer to realize their creative dreams. It is a reminder that achieving one's goals often starts with straightforward actions rather than complex plans.
Themes
WritingNovelistAmbitionCreativityTools
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, the facilitator could reference this quote to inspire participants to start their writing projects.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes →Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous HuxleyRead
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
Aldous HuxleyRead
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
Aldous HuxleyRead
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
Aldous HuxleyRead
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Similar quotes
I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book', but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who you're directing the story to is anathema to me, because, in my view, fiction is freedom and any restraints on that are intolerable.
Martin AmisRead
True literature can exist only where it is created, not by diligent and trustworthy functionaries, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics.
Yevgeny ZamyatinRead
So many stories, and to choose which ones to tell and how to tell them. The words, they will tap me on the shoulder and they will speak to me: 'Tell me! Tell me!' The stories choose me.
Eduardo GaleanoRead
We look at a painting to know the painter; it's his company we are after, not his skill.
James WhistlerRead
My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder. My art is grounded in reflections over being different from others. My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art. I want to keep those sufferings
Edvard MunchRead
Whenever you listen to a piece of music, what you are actually doing is hearing the latest sentence in a very long story you’ve been listening to - all the pieces of music you’ve ever heard.
Brian EnoRead