If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
An aging writer has the not insignificant satisfaction of a shelf of books behind him that, as they wait for their ideal readers to discover them, will outlast him for a while.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A writer finds fulfillment in their published works, knowing they will continue to resonate with readers even after their time.
This quote by John Updike reflects the deep satisfaction an aging writer feels from the body of work they have created. The knowledge that their books will remain, waiting to connect with ideal readers, offers a sense of immortality through literature, suggesting that art transcends the lifespan of its creator.
Themes
WritingBooksLiteratureLegacySatisfaction
In practice
Example use cases
At a writing workshop, to inspire fellow writers about the importance of persistence.
More from John Updike
All quotes →Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
John UpdikeRead
But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
John UpdikeRead
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead
Similar quotes
It is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions.
Dieter F. UchtdorfRead
You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
"Don't bother too much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them; when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behavior
C. S. LewisRead
And knowing what happens on average is a good place to start. By so doing, we insulate ourselves from the tendency to build our thinking - our daily decisions, our laws, our governance - on exceptions and anomalies rather than on reality
Steven LevittRead
Work and thou canst escape the reward; whether the work be fine or course, planting corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the senses as well as to the thought.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead