21 William T. Vollmann Quotes for You to Enjoy

William T. Vollmann

American Novelist

Born: Jul 28, 1959

Good Life Me People Writing You

Related authors: Elie Wiesel Ernest Hemingway H. P. Lovecraft James Baldwin John Updike Leo Rosten Nathaniel Hawthorne Richard Bach

It's fun for me to try to write concise, compact things. It's a very good exercise for me. And I think it's important to try to do different things - change what I write about, and also the way I write. Otherwise, I'd just be repeating myself, which wouldn't be good for me or fair to my readers. William T. Vollmann

Myself Good Me Change Try Important Just Be Think Otherwise Way About Write Fair Also Readers Exercise Concise Repeating Very Just Different Which Compact Fun Different Things Good Exercise Things

Everybody is probably guilty of something. I'm sure that if anyone looked into my heart long enough, they could say, you know, 'Bill had some unkind thoughts back in second grade.' William T. Vollmann

There's an Inuit myth about the origin of the human race. There were two brothers, and the younger brother eventually gets changed into a woman. And that's how humans reproduced. And I thought, 'How could I really understand that?' William T. Vollmann

I think most of us who live into our 50s have had a few experiences with death. You know, we see people we know start to die. We realize it's getting closer and closer for us. William T. Vollmann

Death You People Few Live Think Our See Had Know Most Die Closer Getting Experiences Realize Us Who Start

I think that we're all, as human beings, so limited. If we want to write about ourselves, that's fairly easy. And if we write about our friends or our families, we can do that. But if we want to project ourselves somewhere beyond our personal experience, we're going to fail unless we get that experience or we borrow it from others. William T. Vollmann

Experience Somewhere Think Others Our Unless Project Ourselves Easy Borrow About Write Fail Beyond Fairly Limited Friends Families Get Personal Personal Experience Going Human Want Human Beings Beings

I first got really interested in Noh in about 1977. There was an independent bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana where I was going to high school. It was a really nice place. There was a New Directions paperback. It was the Pound/Fenollosa book, 'The Classic Noh Theatre of Japan.' William T. Vollmann

I might enjoy writing some ghost stories set in Japan because their whole idea about the spirit world is so interesting. William T. Vollmann

Writing World Enjoy Ghost Ghost Stories Some Spirit Spirit World About Idea Because Stories Interesting Japan Might Whole Set

Everybody is an expert on one thing - that's what I learned in my high school journalism class - and that's, of course, his own life. And everybody deserves to live and have his story told. And if it doesn't seem like an interesting story, then that's the failure of the listener, or the journalist who retells it badly. William T. Vollmann

Life Failure Class School Journalist Own Live Everybody High One Thing High School Seem Badly Journalism Like Learned Course His Listener Expert Story Interesting Then Who Deserves Thing

I don't subscribe to organised religion. I've travelled enough to see that adherents of organised religion often attack adherents of other religions. William T. Vollmann

Religion Subscribe Other Enough Religions See Attack Often Organised Travelled

My father grew up in an era when to be an American - a white American, at least - was to be yourself. In some respects, his generation was more ignorant, complacent, self-centered and parochial than mine. William T. Vollmann

So far, I've never missed a deadline for a term paper, a review, a manuscript. I perform the mumbo-jumbo of voting with belief in my heart, I've not yet won even a jaywalking ticket, and unlike my father, whom I fault in this respect, I refrain from opting out of jury duty; instead, they mostly kick me out. William T. Vollmann

Me Respect Heart Fault Voting Father Duty Unlike Kick Paper Out Never Instead Perform Missed Term Ticket Mostly Deadline Review Won Refrain Jury Jury Duty Far Manuscript Even Belief Whom

My father hates organized religion, probably because he hates the God who killed his little girl back in 1968. I find religions variously bemusing. William T. Vollmann

God Religion Father Girl Back Find Religions Hates He Because His Little Little Girl Organized Organized Religion Who

Americans worry that Afghanistan has become a petri dish in which the germs of Islamic fanaticism are replicating - soon Afghans will be hijacking American planes and bombing embassies everywhere. And their fears are not necessarily unfounded. The Taliban are unemployed war veterans, ready and even eager to return to the battlefield. William T. Vollmann

War Veterans Will Fears Become Worry Everywhere Battlefield Soon Hijacking Taliban Return Islamic Ready Unemployed American Afghanistan Afghans Dish Fanaticism Which Planes Even Eager Bombing Necessarily

The case of Afghanistan vs. the Soviet Union is the clearest case of good against evil that I've seen in my lifetime. I thought it was terrific the way they got their country back. William T. Vollmann

Good Evil Thought Seen Country Back Way Case Lifetime Clearest Terrific Got Soviet Soviet Union Afghanistan Against Union

So much of the destruction on Earth has been wrought by men. Women are the ones who give life and try to pick up the pieces... What a great gender they are. William T. Vollmann

Life Great Women Destruction Try Men Gender Earth Has-Been Give Pick Pieces Wrought Been Women Are Up Much Who

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