To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
I met, not long ago, a young man who aspired to become a novelist. Knowing that I was in the profession, he asked me to tell him how he should set to work to realize his ambition. I did my best to explain. 'The first thing,' I said, 'is to buy quite a lot of paper, a bottle of ink, and a pen. After that you merely have to write.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of taking simple yet essential steps to pursue one's creative aspirations.
Aldous Huxley highlights the initial steps required to embark on a journey toward becoming a novelist. He implies that while ambition is important, the practical act of writing—equipped with basic tools like paper, ink, and a pen—is what ultimately allows a writer to realize their creative dreams. It is a reminder that achieving one's goals often starts with straightforward actions rather than complex plans.
Themes
WritingNovelistAmbitionCreativityTools
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, the facilitator could reference this quote to inspire participants to start their writing projects.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes →Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous HuxleyRead
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
Aldous HuxleyRead
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
Aldous HuxleyRead
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
Aldous HuxleyRead
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Similar quotes
To play the trumpet, you must train your lips for a long time. When I was twelve or thirteen I was a good player, but I lost the skill and now I play very badly. I do it every day even so. The reason is that I want to return to my childhood. For me, the trumpet is evidence of the sort of young man I was.
Umberto EcoRead
A lot of times, when people say hip-hop, they don't know what they're talking about. They just think of the rappers. When you talk about hip-hop, you're talking about the whole culture and movement. You have to take the whole culture for what it is.
Afrika BambaataaRead
Novels aren’t just happy escapes; they are slivers of people’s souls, nailed to the pages, dripping ink from veins of wood pulp. Reading the right one at the right time can make all the difference.
Brandon SandersonRead
Completing a book, it's a little like having a baby.
John Le CarreRead
People are already finding ways to make their music and play it in front of people and have a life in music, I guess, and I think that's pretty much all you can ask.
David ByrneRead
If you want to make a documentary you should automatically go to the fiction, and if you want to nourish your fiction you have to come back to reality.
Jean-Luc GodardRead