Jump off. You are a protected individual. Do not fear.
Henry MillerRead
I think someday you're going to be a great writer," he said. "But" he added maliciously, "first you'll have to suffer a bit. I mean really suffer, because you don't know what the word means yet. You only think you've suffered. You've got to fall in love first.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True understanding and depth in writing come from real experiences of suffering and love.
This quote emphasizes that to become a great writer, one must endure genuine suffering and experience love deeply. The speaker suggests that mere superficial experiences are not enough; true artistic expression stems from profound emotional experiences, which shape a writer's perspective and depth.
Themes
WritingSufferingLoveExperienceGreatness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a writing workshop to encourage aspiring authors to embrace their life experiences.
More from Henry Miller
All quotes →I saw through to the last sign and symbol, but I could not read her face. I could see only the eyes shining through, huge, fleshy-like luminous beasts, as though I were swimming behind them in the electric effluvia of her incandescent vision.
Henry MillerRead
The essential thing is to WANT to sing. This then is a song. I am singing.
Henry MillerRead
Great God! What have I turned into? What right have you people to clutter up my life, steal my time, probe my soul, suckle my thoughts, have me for your companion, confidant, and information bureau? What do you take me for? Am I an entertainer on salary, required every evening to play an intellectual farce under your stupid noses? Am I a slave, bought and paid for, to crawl on my belly in front of you idlers and lay at your feet all that I do and all that I know?
Henry MillerRead
We are swimming on the face of time and all else has drowned, is drowning, or will drown.
Henry MillerRead
To sing you must first open your mouth. You must have a pair of lungs, and a little knowledge of music. It is not necessary to have an accordion, or a guitar. The essential thing is to want to sing. This then is a song. I am singing.
Henry MillerRead
Similar quotes
Read yourself, not books. Truth isn't outside, that's only memory, not wisdom. Memory without wisdom is like an empty thermos bottle - if you don't fill it, it's useless.
Ajahn ChahRead
Never bring the problem solving stage into the decision making stage. Otherwise, you surrender yourself to the problem rather than the solution.
Robert H. SchullerRead
Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are mechanical products of the factory of their environment, preoccupied with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working and sleeping, and going here and there to be entertained. They don't know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realize complete happiness and lasting satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
Silence does not always mark wisdom.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
When someone is counting out gold for you, don't look at your hands, or the gold. Look at the giver.
RumiRead