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
America is a nation with many flaws, but hopes so vast that only the cowardly would refuse to acknowledge them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the dual nature of America, acknowledging its imperfections while emphasizing the importance of hope.
In this quote, James A. Michener highlights the complexity of the American identity, recognizing that while the nation has numerous flaws, it possesses an immense capacity for hope and potential for growth. He suggests that it is a cowardly stance to ignore these hopeful possibilities, urging individuals to acknowledge both the challenges and the aspirations that define America.
Themes
AmericaHopeFlawsCourageAcknowledgment
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on national identity, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing both strengths and weaknesses.
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
When a man is in God's grace and free from mortal sin, then everything that he does, so long as there is no sin in it, gives God glory and what does not give him glory has some, however little, sin in it. It is not only prayer that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
I know too well that these arguments from probabilities are imposters, and unless great caution is observed in the use of them, they are apt to be deceptive.
PlatoRead
The soil out of which such men as he are made is good to be born on, good to live on, good to die for and to be buried in.
James Russell LowellRead
live in the space between chaos and shape. I walk the line that continually threatens to lose its tautness under me, dropping me into the dark pit where there is no meaning. At other times the line is so wired that it lights up the soles of my feet, gradually my whole body, until I am my own beacon, and I see then the beauty of newly created worlds, a form that is not random. A new beginning.
Jeanette WintersonRead
Botvinnik tried to take the mystery out of Chess, always relating it to situations in ordinary life. He used to call chess a typical inexact problem similar to those which people are always having to solve in everyday life.
Garry KasparovRead
Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631 He was the Word that spake it; He took the bread and brake it; And what that Word did make it I do believe, and take it.
John DonneRead