I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first drafts. But I'm one of the world's great rewriters.
James A. MichenerRead
The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life often tempts us to blur the lines between our dreams and reality, leading to disillusionment when we abandon our aspirations.
James A. Michener's quote reflects on the intrinsic struggle individuals face between their aspirations and the mundane realities of daily life. The temptation to confuse dreams with reality signifies a common human experience where one might settle for what is 'real' at the expense of their ambitions. The quote warns of the profound loss that occurs when dreams are surrendered, suggesting that the defeat we face in life often stems from allowing our practical existence to overshadow our visionary hopes.
Themes
DreamsRealityTemptationDefeatLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech, to inspire students to chase their dreams despite challenges.
More from James A. Michener
All quotes βWhenever I start a book, I swear it's going to be a short one. But then it's, 'Who was his grandfather? And how did he get there in the first place? And what kind of animals is he chasing?'
James A. MichenerRead
Rampaging horsemen can conquer; only the city can civilize.
James A. MichenerRead
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
James A. MichenerRead
If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.
James A. MichenerRead
I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.
James A. MichenerRead
Similar quotes
The cost of a thing is something called life which is given in exchange for it.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Liberty is a luxury of security; the free individual is a product and a mark of civilization.
Will DurantRead
And if there was no Fall, what then of the need for Redemption? What god was offended and by whom? Some especially touchy cave bear whose skull had been improperly enshrined?
Joseph CampbellRead
We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.....We must not.....assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Consequently, Christian meditation is entirely trinitarian and at the same time entirely human. In order to find God, no one need reject being human personally or socially, but in order to find God all must see the world and themselves in the Holy Spirit as they are in God's sight.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
All modern philosophizing is political, policed by governments, churches, academics, custom, fashion, and human cowardice, all off which limit it to a fake learnedness.
Friedrich NietzscheRead