Allan Gurganus Quotes

Powerful Allan Gurganus for Daily Growth

About Allan Gurganus

Allan Gurganus (born April 30, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist, celebrated for his vivid and expansive narratives exploring the complexities of Southern identity and gay experience. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Gurganus was raised primarily in North Carolina, where he developed a deep affection for the region's rich history, culture, and dialect. He graduated from Duke University with a degree in English literature in 1971 and later pursued a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Gurganus' literary career began in earnest with his debut collection of short stories titled "In Search of Klansman" (1982), which won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and established him as a significant voice in contemporary American fiction. His novel, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All" (1996), showcased his gift for weaving together multiple voices and perspectives to create an intricate and poignant portrait of life in a small Southern town. In addition to his fiction, Gurganus has also written plays and essays, including "The Practical Heart: A Novel in Nine Days" (1998), a play based on the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, and "Winter's Bone," an essay collection exploring themes of aging, mortality, and the meaning of home. Gurganus' work is marked by its humor, empathy, and ability to capture the nuances of human emotion in all its complexity. His contributions to American literature have earned him numerous accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and inclusion in The New Yorker's list of 20 Under 40 notable young American novelists. Today, he continues to write and teach at various institutions, fostering the next generation of literary talent while maintaining his status as one of America's most captivating storytellers.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The truest pride is to be one's own person."

This quote by Allan Gurganus emphasizes the value of self-authenticity and individuality. It suggests that true pride comes from being unapologetically oneself, embracing one's unique identity without compromise or conformity to external expectations. In essence, this quote encourages us to strive for personal growth, self-discovery, and the courage to express our true selves in a world that often seeks uniformity.

"Humanity at large loves stories about people who love each other."

The quoted statement by Allan Gurganus suggests that human beings have a deep-rooted fascination with narratives centered around relationships between individuals, particularly those involving romantic or emotional connections. This interest stems from our shared desire to understand the complexities of love and human emotion, as well as our innate need for connection and intimacy. Stories about such bonds provide us with a mirror that reflects not only our own experiences but also offer insights into the universal nature of love, enabling us to empathize, learn, and grow as individuals.

"In every family there is a ghost or two, or a room where the furniture has been moved around to conceal the stains."

This quote by Allan Gurganus suggests that every family harbors secrets or past events that have left an indelible impact, often remaining unspoken or hidden from view, symbolized by 'ghosts' or unexplained issues ('stains'). The moved furniture in a room to conceal these stains represents efforts made to cover up or hide these troubles within the family structure. It underscores the idea that many families have a complex and often untold history that shapes their dynamics and interactions.

"Life is a glorious adventure or nothing."

The quote by Allan Gurganus emphasizes that life should be embraced as an exciting journey, a grand adventure filled with purpose and meaning, rather than something mundane or insignificant. To fully appreciate life, one must actively seek out experiences, growth, and self-discovery. This perspective encourages us to live boldly, pursue dreams, and face challenges head-on, making every moment count.

"The world's most beautiful women are the ones who know that they're beautiful, but don't need you to tell them."

The quote suggests that true beauty lies not in others' validation, but in self-awareness and self-acceptance. A woman who recognizes her own beauty does not rely on external confirmation, but rather carries an inner confidence and grace. This understanding frees her from the need to prove or defend her worth, making her even more captivating to those around her.

Collections collect collectors. It doesn't work the other way around. A certain object misses its own kind and communicates that to some person who surrounds it with rhyming items; these become at first a quorum, then a selective, addictive madness.

- Allan Gurganus

Own, Some, Other, Rhyming

It was 1981. I was working on a novel. And I put that novel aside one day after I read a newspaper article. The story said there were 19 women still on the pension payroll who were Confederate war widows. They were women who very early in their lives had married very old men.

- Allan Gurganus

Newspaper, One Day, Very, Confederate

After a sound public education, I attended Penn and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After being drafted into the military and studying Indonesian, I emerged as a writer, not a painter.

- Allan Gurganus

Education, Attended, Penn, Pennsylvania

When I grew up, there were locked cabinets in public libraries. You needed parental permission if you were under eighteen. I was let down by the overblown reputations of some hardcore fictional works.

- Allan Gurganus

Some, Reputations, Works, Fictional

The luckiest person in the world is somebody who is born into a small, shabby-genteel town on a major railway connection with 24,000 souls and a bird sanctuary and whose grandfather owns a farm and whose father owns a business -whose family is mildly prosperous but not rich, which means you can leave the town.

- Allan Gurganus

Father, Small, World, Luckiest

Living in Manhattan opened me to whole new sets of things to envy, study, gather and imagine stealing. A full-size 1809 German harp, beautifully painted with three goddesses, covered in a pea-green coat of great silvery refinement: mine for $180. Though all its strings were broken, its beauty let it claim a quarter of my one - bedroom.

- Allan Gurganus

Envy, Study, German, Goddesses

I think it's a false distinction to say that conversation and composition are separate. Because even as we speak, I'm seeing. Every interview is different, and I'm finding new ways to talk about ancient preoccupations. And I sometimes come on something that's immensely helpful and valuable. Plus I like the sensation of conversation.

- Allan Gurganus

I Think, Distinction, Interview

I was 16 before I met another passionate collector. One summer, I visited England; a new friend took me calling on his dotty, brilliant old aunt. She occupied a quaint house in Kent. Its walls were lined with glass-fronted cases full of what? Ancient shoe buckles.

- Allan Gurganus

Passionate, Another, Before, Lined

People rich enough to redecorate every 10 months are certainly careless with antique furniture. I found four 1760 French side chairs, tapestry seats intact. Claiming them proved easier than persuading any cabdriver to transport the things.

- Allan Gurganus

Claiming, Persuading, Seats, Careless

I was born in Rocky Mount, NC. The town of 24,000 proved a great place to spend the first 17 years of life. But, after that, onward, outward.

- Allan Gurganus

Born, Town, Great Place, Mount

Sometimes the books most restrained about sex, even deeply scandalized by it, can whisper to us with the greatest hidden force. I am a huge admirer of the recently deceased, always underranked Evan S. Connell.

- Allan Gurganus

Sometimes, Hidden, Deceased, Restrained

I'm a great admirer of Primo Levi's work. It's always mind-boggling, the idea of how much pain people can endure and still come back from the edge with a sense of humor, with this tremendous animal desire we have to get on with life.

- Allan Gurganus

Sense Of Humor, Back, Idea, Admirer

To shy away from human extremes and human sensuality makes for bone-dry fiction. A world parched of our sexual releases and our tumultuous daily emotional lives is deeply impoverished. It is not lifelike, at least life as I remember living it.

- Allan Gurganus

Shy, I Remember, Away, Sensuality

'The Practical Heart' was published one week before the World Trade towers collapsed. Book reviewing and all else in our culture stopped dead-still for half a year. I went on the book tour anyway. But I felt like the apostle Paul going unto the catacombs where scared believers hid and prayed.

- Allan Gurganus

Week, Hid, Half, Towers

I rise at 6. Strong coffee helps me face the paper edition of 'The New York Times.' It daily challenges my own capacity for faking anything deranged enough to sound true. I work till 2 P.M. unless I am in the throes of finishing something. I rewrite to be reread.

- Allan Gurganus

Strong, Challenges, Till, Deranged

Having great friends in New York is like having great friends on an expedition into Darkest Africa in the early 19th century. You need them. And you need sponsorship on a daily basis. I have a painter friend here who says, 'I need two compliments a day just to break even.' And we gave them to each other, and we got them - and honestly got them.

- Allan Gurganus

Here, Other, 19th Century, Great Friends

For anybody living out their twenties, Sex and Career remain major topics: being sexy can help give you a career, and having a career can make others finally find you sexier.

- Allan Gurganus

Career, Living, Give, Sexier

People have asked me about the 19th century and how I knew so much about it. And the fact is I really grew up in the 19th century, because North Carolina in the 1950s, the early years of my childhood, was exactly synchronous with North Carolina in the 1850s. And I used every scrap of knowledge that I had.

- Allan Gurganus

Fact, 19th Century, North, Early Years

My mother had a master's degree and had been a schoolteacher before she started having kids at 30. But my father's family were landowners, farmer-merchants. Moneymaking was extremely important, like one of those semi-rapacious families in Lillian Hellman, where they know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

- Allan Gurganus

Been, Before, Schoolteacher, Moneymaking

I don't think anybody who has any wisdom regrets a minute of their life, as long as it takes you to the next minute, when things get a little better, and even when it doesn't.

- Allan Gurganus

Think, Next, Anybody, Minute

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