Dreams are shores where the ocean of spirit meets the land of matter. Dreams are beaches where the yet-to-be, the once-were, the will-never-be may walk awhile with the still-are.
David MitchellRead
There's a disease that young writers are susceptible to, which is, I will do this because I can - hubris, I suppose - without stopping to work out why.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Young writers often overestimate their abilities and neglect to question their motivations.
In this quote, David Mitchell addresses the common trap of hubris that affects young writers, who may pursue projects simply because they possess the capability to do so, rather than reflecting on their underlying motivations and goals. This unexamined ambition can lead to misguided efforts and ultimately hinder artistic growth and self-awareness.
Themes
WritingHubrisMotivationSelf-AwarenessYoung Writers
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop discussing the challenges of writing, this quote can highlight the importance of being mindful about one's motivations.
More from David Mitchell
All quotes →The Revelation of Sonmi 451 To be is to be perceived, and so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. - Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.
David MitchellRead
…and there, in the background, the sky’s sediment had sunk to a place where all the woe of the words ‘I am’ dissolved into blue peace. He said it. ‘The ocean.
David MitchellRead
How vulgar, this hankering after immortality, how vain, how false. Composers are merely scribblers of cave paintings. One writes music because winter is eternal and because, if one didn't, the wolves and blizzards would be at one's throat all the sooner.
David MitchellRead
. . .my dreams are the single unpredictable factor in my zoned days and nights. Nobody allots them, or censors them. Dreams are all I have ever truly owned.
David MitchellRead
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
David MitchellRead
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