It isn't till now, in the American Century, as we have recklessly dubbed it, that tribal pressures toward conformity have been brought to bear so ruthlessly upon men and women seeking to work creatively.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the societal pressure to conform that can stifle individual creativity.
Nelson Algren's quote reflects on the challenges faced by creative individuals in a society that often values conformity over originality. He suggests that in the so-called 'American Century,' the pressures to conform have intensified, making it increasingly difficult for artists and thinkers to express their true selves and innovate. This commentary serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining individuality and creativity in the face of societal expectations.
In practice
This quote can be shared during an art exhibition opening to emphasize the importance of creative freedom.
The Impossible Generalized Man today is the critic who believes in loving those unworthy of love as well as those worthy -yet believes this only insofar as no personal risk is entailed. Meaning he loves no one, worthy or no. This is what makes him impossible.
I've always felt strongly that a writer shouldn't be engaged with other writers, or with people who make books, or even with people who read them. I think the farther away you get from the literary traffic, the closer you are to sources. I mean, a writer doesn't really live; he observes.
Yet once you've come to be part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.
... Chicago divided your heart. Leaving you loving the joint for keeps. Yet knowing it never can love you.
For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart.
...he said, with sort of a little derisive smile, "How can you walk down the street with all this stuff going on inside you?" I said, "I don't know how you can walk down the street with nothing going on inside you.
Failure is built into creativity... the creative act involves this element of 'newness' and 'experimentalism,' then one must expect and accept the possibility of failure.
It seems to me that's the only way you can have a truly creative aggregate of people is if they're all contributing in different ways.
Sometimes you have to stop thinking. Sometimes you shut down completely. I think that's true in any creative field.
I was young, and by instinct of self-preservation I had to collect my energy on something, if I were not to be whirled away with the dusk on the farm-roads, or the smoke on the plain. I begun in the evenings to write stories, fairy-tales, and romances, that would take my mind a long way off, to other countries and times.
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.
In order to have a real relationship with our creativity, we must take the time and care to cultivate it.
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