A novel takes the courage of a marathon runner, and as long as you have to run, you might as well be a winning marathon runner. Serendipity and blind faith faith in yourself won't hurt a thing. All the bastards in the world will snicker and sneer because they haven't the talent to zip up their flies by themselves. To hell with them, particularly the critics. Stand in there, son, no matter how badly you are battered and hurt.
Interpretation
Writing a novel requires bravery and perseverance, just like running a marathon. Believe in yourself regardless of criticism.
This quote emphasizes the courage and determination needed to write a novel, comparing it to the endurance required of a marathon runner. Uris encourages authors to embrace their efforts and maintain self-belief, despite potential criticism or adversity from others. It highlights the importance of resilience and the rejection of negativity from those who may not understand the artistic journey.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech aimed at aspiring writers to inspire them to pursue their literary goals.
The complete novelist would come into the world with a catalog of qualities like this. He would own the concentration of a Trappist monk, the organizational ability of a Prussian field marshal, the insight into human relations of a Viennese psychologist, the discipline of a man who prints the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin, the exquisite sense of timing of an Olympic gymnast, and by the way, a natural instinct and flair for exceptional use of language.
If you're lucky enough to fall in love, that's one thing. Otherwise all that was ever truly beautiful to me was boyhood. It's the meal we sup on for the rest of our lives. Love puts the icing on life. But if you don't find it...you must call on your childhood memories over and over till you do.
After all, the only thing that is going to save mankind is if enough people live their lives for something or someone other than themselves.
The first thing you have to do is get immersed in the project, organizing yourself, knowing what you are going after and not going after. It is extremely important to know what you don't want to find. Research to me is as important or more important than the writing. It is the foundation upon which the book is built.
I enjoy writing, sometimes; I think that most writers will tell you about the agony of writing more than the joy of writing, but writing is what I was meant to do.
Who here wants to be a writer?' I asked. Everyone in the room raised his hand. 'Why the hell aren't you home writing?' I said, and left the stage.
Over the years my mother's steadfast faith in God has inspired me, particularly when I had to perform extremely difficult surgical procedures or when I found myself faced with my own medical scare.
The ability to take misfortune and make something good come of it is a rare gift. Those who possess it are ..said to have resilience or courage.
aren't they the very reason I have to try to fight? Because what has been done to them is so wrong, so beyond justification, so evil that there is no choice? Because no one has the right to treat them as they have been treated?
War should be not a war of choice; it should be a war of necessity. And it should be a last resort.
It wasn't that the X-1 would kill you, it was the systems in the X-1 that would kill you.
I will do what I promised." He whispered. "No matter what. I will not send you into the darkness alone.
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