After all, everybody, that is, everybody who writes is interested in living inside themselves in order to tell what is inside themselves. That is why writers have to have two countries, the one where they belong and the one in which they live really. The second one is romantic, it is separate from themselves, it is not real but it is really there. (New York: Liveright, 1970, p. 2)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Writers live in two worlds: their true home and a romantic, separate place where they create their work.
- In plain terms
- Writers live in two countries: where they belong and where they live to write.
- What can you take from it?
- Creative work often happens in a mental space separate from daily life.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you create best?
- Do you feel at home in two places?
Another view
Not all writers need a separate physical or mental country.
More from Gertrude Stein
The surrealists still see things as everyone sees them, they complicate them in a different way but the vision is that of everyone else, in short the complicat…
Permalink to quote #89 After all, human beings are like that. When they are alone they want to be with others, and when they are with others they want to be alone.
Permalink to quote #91 A creator is not in advance of his generation but he is the first of his contemporaries to be conscious of what is happening to his generation. A creator who c…
Permalink to quote #88
Related quotes
Je suis un galerien de plume et d'encre.
Honore de BalzacHonore de Balzac quote #2 One night, when all the thoughts were coming to me, the concept came to me that Superman could have a dual identity, and that in one of his identities he could…
Jerry SiegelJerry Siegel quote #6 I was hardly fit for human society. Thus destiny shaped me to be a science fiction writer.
Brian AldissBrian Aldiss quote #11