Quotes by Ernest Hemingway that are profoundly blunt and laconic
Nobel laureate and renowned writer Ernest Hemingway is known for his blunt style of writing and his interesting life. After completing his studies he worked as a journalist, then he enlisted as an ambulance driver during the first world war. He was only sent home after he was injured and then he married and found his way to writing.
His wrote seven novels, six short-story collections, and two nonfiction works. Three of his novels, four short-story collections, and three nonfiction works were published posthumously. He would write extensive letters too and many have been compiled into books. His writing style inspired many authors and his works are considered American classics and are widely read even today. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 and his iconic book 'The Old Man and the Sea' won the Pulitzer Prize.
Here are some lines which show the grace of his short and honest writing style:
On defeat
“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
On first drafts
“The first draft of anything is shit.”
On living well
“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
On a cat's philosophy
“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”
On empathy in writing
“As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.”
On courage
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
On true greatness
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
On the painful honesty required to write well
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
On the weight of intelligence
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”
On war
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”
On books
“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”