The writer must be able to revel and roll in the abundance of words; he must know not only the direct but also the secret power of a word. There are overtones and undertones to a word, and lateral echoes, too.
Interpretation
A writer should embrace the richness of language and understand its deeper implications.
This quote emphasizes the writer's necessity to not only express ideas through words but also to appreciate the deeper, often hidden layers that words carry. Knut Hamsun suggests that a true mastery of language involves understanding the nuances and emotional resonances that come with each word, allowing for a more profound expression of thought and feeling.
In practice
In a writing workshop, while discussing the importance of vocabulary, one might say this quote to highlight the depth of words.
The intelligent poor individual was a much finer observer than the intelligent rich one. The poor individual looks around him at every step, listens suspiciously to every word he hears from the people he meets; thus, every step he takes presents a problem, a task, for his thoughts and feelings. He is alert and sensitive, he is experienced, his soul has been burned.
Earth and sea merged, the sea tossed itself in the air in a fantastic dance, into the shapes of men and horses and tattered banners. I stood in the lee of an overhanging rock and thought of many things.
The other one he loved like a slave, like a madman and like a beggar. Why? Ask the dust on the road and the falling leaves, ask the mysterious God of life; for no one knows such things. She gave him nothing, no nothing did she give him and yet he thanked her. She said: Give me your peace and your reason! And he was only sorry she did not ask for his life.
No worse fate can befall a young man or woman than becoming prematurely entrenched in prudence and negation.
In old age we are like a batch of letters that someone has sent. We are no longer in the past, we have arrived.
There are some people who cannot help giving. Why? Because they experience a real psychological pleasure in doing so. They don't do it with an eye to their own advantage, they do it on the quiet; they detest doing it openly because that would take away some of the satisfaction. They do it in secret, with quick trembling hands, their breasts rocked by a spiritual well being which they do not themselves understand.
Yet, it is true, poetry is delicious; the best prose is that which is most full of poetry.
I turned silences and nights into words. What was unutterable, I wrote down. I made the whirling world stand still.
The Actor should make you forget the existence of author and director, and even forget the actor.
I work as diligently on my canvases as the laborers do in their fields.
I think literary theory satisfied a deep love I have for big, encompassing narratives about the world and how it works - which are usually, in the end, more creative visions unto themselves than illuminating explanations.
I always like to see if the art across the street is better than mine.
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