The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
When you try to unravel something you've written, you belittle it in a way. It was created as a mystery.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Overanalyzing your writing can diminish its artistic value and the mystery it holds.
This quote by Don Delillo highlights the tension between creation and analysis in the realm of writing. When a writer dissects their own work too thoroughly, they risk reducing the intrigue and emotional depth that originally made it captivating, as each piece of art is often layered with meaning that does not need to be fully understood to be appreciated.
Themes
WritingMysteryArtAnalysisCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a writing workshop to encourage participants to embrace the mystery of their creative work.
More from Don Delillo
All quotes βWar is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
Don DelilloRead
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
Don DelilloRead
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
Don DelilloRead
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
Don DelilloRead
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. β¨He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way heβs carrying a gun. β¨This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
Don DelilloRead
Similar quotes
A great rock band searches for the same kind of combustible force that fueled the expansion of the universe after the big bang. You want the earth to shake and spit fire. You want the sky to split apart and for God to pour out.
Bruce SpringsteenRead
I always saw hurdles as a form of art, because it's very individual. One technique that may produce a world record for one guy could be useless for another guy.
Edwin MosesRead
One can be a great poet and be politically stupid.
Umberto EcoRead
The art of the critic in a nutshell: to coin slogans without betraying ideas. The slogans of an inadequate criticism peddle ideas to fashion.
Walter BenjaminRead
If you already have a piece of music ingrained in your body, why would you not play it?
Keith JarrettRead
All the dancer's gestures are signs of things, and the dance called rational, because it aptly signifies and displays something over and above the pleasure of the senses.
Saint AugustineRead