Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain felt before.
Norman MailerRead
Writer’s block is only a failure of the ego.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writer's block stems from one's fears and insecurities rather than an actual lack of ability to write.
Norman Mailer's quote suggests that writer's block is not merely a creative hurdle but rather a manifestation of the ego's fears and self-doubt. When writers face an internal struggle that inhibits their creativity, it is often due to their own perceptions of inadequacy or fear of judgment, indicating that overcoming such mental barriers can lead to the resumption of creativity.
Themes
Writer'S BlockEgoCreativityFailureSelf-Doubt
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming personal barriers, you might say, 'Remember, as Norman Mailer put it, writer's block is only a failure of the ego.'
More from Norman Mailer
All quotes →I no longer gave a sick dog's drop for the wisdom, the reliability and the authority of the public's literary mind, those creeps and old ladies of vested reviewing.
Norman MailerRead
There's nothing glorious about being a professional. . . . Professionalism probably comes down to being able to work on a bad day.
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The natural role of twentieth-century man is anxiety.
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Over-certified adjectives are the mark of most best-seller writing
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At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.
Norman MailerRead
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The past will not tell us what we ought to do, but... what we ought to avoid.
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Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character.
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