American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that aspiring for greatness can lead to mediocrity.
Gore Vidal critiques American writers who aim for greatness at the expense of their current capabilities. By focusing on becoming great rather than simply striving to be good, many writers may become trapped in a cycle of disappointment, resulting in them achieving neither. This highlights the paradox of aiming too high without acknowledgment of the skills and efforts needed to improve.
In practice
This quote could be used in a writing workshop to inspire participants to focus on the quality of their work rather than unattainable standards.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Envy is the central fact of American life.
I don't want to think that the stories are finite; I want to feel that they can go on forever.
One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind.
Perhaps when I have 10 films behind me, I will have something worth saying.
I write because to write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery. A thought was not there, then it is. An image, a story, an idea about what it is to be human, did not exist, then it does. With every new poem, an emotion new to the heart, to the world, speaks itself into being.
The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.
On the technical side, I hope that my writing is evolving and maturing, ripening, deepening.
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