The reason a writer writes a book is to forget a book and the reason a reader reads one is to remember it.
Meaning of the quote
Writers write books to help them forget about the book they just wrote. Readers read books to help them remember the stories and ideas in the book. The writer's goal is to move on, while the reader's goal is to hold onto what they read.
About Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe was a major American novelist of the 20th century, known for his highly original and poetic prose. His first novel, Look Homeward, Angel, and his short stories made him one of the most important authors of the Southern Renaissance. Despite some past criticism, Wolfe’s place in the literary canon is now secure, and his influence can be seen in the works of many later authors.
More quotes from Thomas Wolfe
Death the last voyage, the longest, and the best.
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America – it is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country; it is the only place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time.
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Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.
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Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs.
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One belongs to New York instantly. One belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.
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In Sleep we lie all naked and alone, in Sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness, and we are strange and beautiful asleep; for we are dying the darkness and we know no death.
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All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken.
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Most of the time we think we’re sick, it’s all in the mind.
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Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America – that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement.
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Not even the most powerful organs of the press, including Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times, can discover a new artist or certify his work and make it stick. They can only bring you the scores.
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The reason a writer writes a book is to forget a book and the reason a reader reads one is to remember it.
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A young man is so strong, so mad, so certain, and so lost. He has everything and he is able to use nothing.
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Is this not the true romantic feeling; not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you.
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Publishing is a very mysterious business. It is hard to predict what kind of sale or reception a book will have, and advertising seems to do very little good.
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If a man has talent and can’t use it, he’s failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he uses the whole of it, he has succeeded, and won a satisfaction and triumph few men ever know.
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You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.
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