Patrick Dewitt Quotes

Powerful Patrick Dewitt for Daily Growth

About Patrick Dewitt

Patrick DeWitt is a renowned Canadian novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, known for his unique storytelling style and darkly humorous narratives. Born on October 16, 1975, in Vancouver, British Columbia, DeWitt grew up in various towns across Western Canada before settling down in Victoria, where he currently resides. DeWitt's love for literature began early, influenced by the works of classic authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mark Twain. This passion led him to study English at the University of Victoria. After graduation, DeWitt worked various odd jobs, including bartending, landscaping, and even stints in a lumber mill, before deciding to pursue a career in writing. His debut novel, 'Ablutions,' published in 2009, is a collection of short stories that reflect his distinctive voice and dark humor. However, it was his second novel, 'The Sisters Brothers' (2011), that catapulted DeWitt to international acclaim. A western drama set in the late 19th century, the book won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2017, DeWitt released 'Undermajordomo Minor,' a surreal, dark comedy that showcases his ability to blend humor with existential themes. His most recent work, 'French Exit' (2018), follows a wealthy widow and her son as they navigate life in Paris. The novel was adapted into a film starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges. Patrick DeWitt continues to captivate readers with his compelling narratives, unique voice, and darkly humorous approach to storytelling. His work has been translated into multiple languages and is enjoyed worldwide.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The world is a series of tragedies and farces, as the person who's attending has too little sympathy for the tragic and too much for the ridiculous."

This quote suggests that the world we inhabit often presents situations which can be both deeply tragic and absurdly comical at the same time. The speaker appears to have a detached perspective, expressing a lack of empathy for the tragic events occurring around them but simultaneously showing concern for the seemingly ridiculous aspects of life. It's a commentary on human nature, highlighting our ability to find humor in difficult situations while remaining emotionally removed from suffering and heartbreak.

"There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm."

This quote suggests that knowledge can be gained in two distinct ways: during tranquil moments (calm) and tumultuous times (storm). In quieter moments, we have the opportunity to learn through reflection, contemplation, and study. During storms, we learn through experiencing challenges, making decisions under pressure, and adapting to change. Both experiences are essential for personal growth and understanding.

"You can't make someone love you. Not any more than you can make them breathe."

This quote by Patrick deWitt emphasizes the fundamental impossibility of forcing or manipulating someone into loving us, just as it is impossible to force them to breathe. Love, like life itself, cannot be controlled or dictated; it emerges naturally when genuine connection and affection are present. Instead, we should focus on being authentic and empathetic in our relationships, allowing love to develop organically over time.

"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that we make are what define us, and the choices we don't make as much."

This quote suggests that our talents and potential hold significant value, and it's tragic when they remain untapped or underutilized. The choices we actively make in life shape our identity and determine the course of our lives. However, the choices we don't make are equally important since they often reflect opportunities missed and paths not taken. These choices collectively contribute to who we become and what we achieve, reinforcing the idea that every decision has a lasting impact on our lives.

"We're just passing through this world, my friend, and there's nothing wrong with taking a few moments to appreciate its beauty."

This quote emphasizes the transient nature of life and encourages us to pause and savor the stunning beauty that the world offers. It suggests a mindfulness approach to living, urging us to not rush through our experiences, but rather appreciate them for their inherent value. In essence, it is a call to live in the present moment, cherishing the aesthetics and wonders that surround us.

I've been surprised at how much an unknown like myself can accomplish just by reaching out to people and pleading my case. Quotes for the book cover, reviews and interviews, readings and radio appearances - all this by simply moving ahead and making contact with folks I thought might enjoy the writing.

- Patrick deWitt

Thought, Ahead, Been, Reviews

The impetus for 'The Sisters Brothers' was it occurred to me that there was no neurosis in westerns, or there's a minimal amount of it.

- Patrick deWitt

Impetus, Westerns, Minimal, Neurosis

My instinct is to write under the cloak of an opaque historical setting.

- Patrick deWitt

Instinct, Cloak, Historical, Opaque

Many's the dead author whose body of work has been marred by overzealous publishers or family members. If this happens to me, I vow to seek out the responsible parties and haunt them to the point of death.

- Patrick deWitt

Death, Been, Haunt, Vow

By the time I left the bar, I was 30. I was a dishwasher. They call it a bar-back, but essentially, I washed dishes for a living. I had no high-school diploma, I had no agent, and my literary successes were non-existent... but it was the only thing I ever wanted to do, so I did feel trapped.

- Patrick deWitt

By The Time, Agent, Literary, Diploma

Some deeper part of me wants to write comical dialogue; I'd be foolish to not follow that impulse. Now I recognize that if there's energy to a section of work, you go where the energy is. It's a living thing, and you just follow it.

- Patrick deWitt

Some, Part, Section, Foolish

I don't necessarily want to make people stomp and clap. I simply want to engage people.

- Patrick deWitt

Want, Engage, Stomp, Clap

All of my close friends are emotional train wrecks. This is what makes our lives interesting - constantly doubting ourselves, worrying, wondering if we've made a mistake. Could we have done better? Are we good people? Are we bad people?

- Patrick deWitt

Bad, Close Friends, Our, Doubting

Humorous writing is often thought of as substandard in comparison to work with a more dramatic or tragic intent. I don't know what to say to this except that I disagree wholeheartedly.

- Patrick deWitt

Work, Thought, Comparison, Wholeheartedly

The reason I like Portland is the idea of going to a supermarket and knowing there's no way to be recognized. L.A. is so social.

- Patrick deWitt

Reason, Like, Going, Portland

Unfunny people should be locked up, the key tossed into a smelter.

- Patrick deWitt

Locked, Should, Up, Key

At the age of seventeen, I decided I would spend my life writing fiction. I didn't know what this entailed, exactly - a room, I supposed. A room and books and paper and solitude.

- Patrick deWitt

My Life, Fiction, Exactly, Solitude

The initial spark, your affection for the characters, all those things can disappear. It's a perilous thing.

- Patrick deWitt

Characters, Initial, Spark

I'm not an enormous proponent of plot as a reader. It's about other things; my reading has become specialized over the years.

- Patrick deWitt

Other, Over, Specialized, Proponent

If you're not riddled with doubt, you've probably done something wrong.

- Patrick deWitt

Doubt, You, Done, Riddled

I carry a small spiral notebook with me at all times and have been doing this for many years. There's a shoe box in my closet filled with these notebooks, each riddled with notes and impressions, ideas, schemes, and soup recipes.

- Patrick deWitt

Small, Doing, Been, Riddled

I haven't read hardly any Westerns, to tell you the truth.

- Patrick deWitt

Truth, Westerns, Read, Hardly

I know a lot of people who use the Internet really wisely. It enriches their lives in some way.

- Patrick deWitt

Some, Use, Lives, Wisely

I have a paranoia that 'Ablutions' is the best thing I'll ever do.

- Patrick deWitt

Best, Ever, Thing, Paranoia

I was intentionally curbing the impulse to be funny and hiding the ability. I wrote any number of very serious attempts at poems, short stories, novels - horrible. At a certain point, I recognized that it was fun to write dialogue that had a degree of lightness and humor.

- Patrick deWitt

Recognized, Very, Lightness, Impulse

I've stopped reading about the death of books because it's wasteful and morbid and insulting to the authors, agents, publishers, booksellers, critics, and readers that keep the world community of fiction interesting.

- Patrick deWitt

Death, Fiction, Stopped, Morbid

I was reading my son some fables; it made for good nighttime reading. These stories were very vivid and very strange and occasionally bizarrely violent. It was a very free landscape.

- Patrick deWitt

Some, Very, Fables, Nighttime

I was halfway through a rough draft of 'The Sisters Brothers' when it came time to start the 'Terri' adaptation.

- Patrick deWitt

Through, Brothers, Rough, Terri

My first book didn't even have a Canadian publisher. And that upset me, because I so wanted a readership up there.

- Patrick deWitt

Book, Upset, Canadian, Publisher

All the books I was reading as a teenager were about individuals having adventures. So I thought that was what writers were supposed to do: to go out on the road.

- Patrick deWitt

Thought, About, Having, Teenager

As a reader I want to be present and entertained. I don't want to be taught lessons, and I don't want to be spoken down to. I want to be treated as a peer and to be made to feel welcome.

- Patrick deWitt

Made, Treated, Reader, Entertained

If I were to continue to work in an established mode, it stands to reason the work would be limited by this - that it would never surpass the prior work in quality.

- Patrick deWitt

Reason, Established, Limited, Surpass

'The Sisters Brothers' has endeared so many prize juries because the Western format has more of a broad appeal and is familiar to readers.

- Patrick deWitt

More, Brothers, Format, Juries

A lot of authors, judging by their list, will put anything out that they finish... That's the worst model I've heard of in my life. It's just idiotic. Why wouldn't you just wait for the good ones?

- Patrick deWitt

My Life, Wait, Why, Authors

After 'The Sisters Brothers,' I tried to write a contemporary story dealing with an investment adviser in New York City who moves to Paris. I did all this research, but after about a year and any number of pages written, I was bored stiff.

- Patrick deWitt

City, Year, Brothers, Bored

Lies can be wonderful things, and when a lie is told artfully, if it's done with a degree of craftsmanship, I can't help but admire the liar.

- Patrick deWitt

Lie, Admire, Degree, Wonderful Things

Every industry has slack times, and everyone has bad days at work.

- Patrick deWitt

Bad, Everyone, Times, Bad Days

I'm never doing anything by rote. I'm only on thin ice, and I think that that's a good place to be. I feel like when you push yourself like that, the rewards can be pretty great.

- Patrick deWitt

Doing, Good Place, I Think, Push

I had no plan to write a western novel, and when I realized it was happening, I was pretty surprised by it. But you have to go with what feels right.

- Patrick deWitt

Go, Pretty, Feels, Novel

I don't consider Los Angeles home anymore; ultimately, it was pretty negative, but I did spend my formative years in the Valley and all around L.A. proper. Through my teenage years and into my young adulthood, up until the age of 30, I spent a good amount of time there.

- Patrick deWitt

Young, Through, Proper, Teenage Years

It's healthy to have interests besides books.

- Patrick deWitt

Healthy, Interests, Books, Besides

More and more, I find myself turning away from everything relating to contemporary society. I don't know how healthy it is, but I am creating a very private bubble that I live in.

- Patrick deWitt

Away, Private, Very, Contemporary Society

I think of myself as somebody who, in a moment-to-moment way, I'm quite happy. But I think I am a bit doubtful and wary of true happiness, and, like a lot of my friends, there's been a good degree of self-sabotage.

- Patrick deWitt

Happy, True Happiness, Been, Doubtful

Love is dangerous; it's not something to be trifled with. As good as it feels on the way in, it feels that much worse on the way out.

- Patrick deWitt

Love, Dangerous, Feels, Love Is

I've fallen in love in my life a few times. It's the most exciting part of being alive - that I've experienced, anyway.

- Patrick deWitt

Love, My Life, Alive, Experienced

Often the starting point for characters, for me, is finding a little, most minor detail, and I'll go from there.

- Patrick deWitt

Go, Often, Minor, Starting

After school, I got a job in a shop in Hollywood and shared an apartment with a friend. I promptly lost my job and got evicted from my apartment, and that happened several times.

- Patrick deWitt

Hollywood, Shared, Shop, Promptly

I heard somewhere that whenever you write a book, people will ask you One Question about it over and over. And while I'm no expert in these matters, this is proving to be true. My first book dealt with a not-that-pleasant degenerate type, and the One Question was, 'Is this an autobiographical story?'

- Patrick deWitt

Book, Expert, About, Degenerate

I am a homebody, something that lends itself to my profession.

- Patrick deWitt

I Am, Profession, Itself, Homebody

The nice thing about writing at home is that it's almost as though I'm doing it already. I get out of bed thinking of my work, and I don't have to go anywhere to do it.

- Patrick deWitt

Doing, Bed, Though, Nice Thing

I wrote for so many years in a bubble, the way everyone does, and there were large swaths of time where you think you're doing this for nothing. An audience is crucial, a back and forth with the invisible readers.

- Patrick deWitt

Doing, Back, So Many Years, Readers

The idea is this: It's important to upset one's work habits, to topple the cart for each project.

- Patrick deWitt

Important, Habits, Upset, Cart

The hardest thing in the world for a writer is to amass a readership. So many good books come out, and so many good books disappear.

- Patrick deWitt

The Hardest Thing, Come, Readership

I've got a publicist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who's been working little miracles for me, but it's true the budgets aren't what they once were in terms of advertisement and book tours.

- Patrick deWitt

Book, Been, Got, Tours

Bernie Madoff is probably more nuanced then I'm giving him credit for, but I just couldn't get under his skin.

- Patrick deWitt

Skin, More, Then, Credit

One of the nice things about writing is you can take essentially painful things in your life and turn them into something that might be useful, or at least entertaining, to somebody else.

- Patrick deWitt

Might, Entertaining, About, Useful

My interest in words and literature is always changing. And every day of work is different, and it doesn't feel laborious in the way that, say, washing dishes did. I'm quite happy to be doing what I'm doing, and I feel very lucky.

- Patrick deWitt

Lucky, Very, Laborious, Washing

Working in a bar was a horrific idea for me.

- Patrick deWitt

Me, Bar, Idea, Horrific

When you're 8 years old, and you've become subconsciously familiar with the layout and design of Black Sparrow books, and you know the difference between Miles Davis and John Coltrane, something is bound to stick.

- Patrick deWitt

Years, Miles, Subconsciously, None

Whenever we changed schools, we had to make a new set of friends. At the time, of course, I hated it. But looking back now, I'm really glad I did, because it forces independence on you.

- Patrick deWitt

Looking Back, New, Set, Hated

When your protagonist bores you, you're in trouble.

- Patrick deWitt

Trouble, Your, Protagonist, Bores

The theme of luck comes up a lot. It's something I thought about before, why some people are lucky and some people aren't lucky. It seems like some people you meet can sort of cultivate luck, and I've always been fascinated by that.

- Patrick deWitt

Lucky, Some, Been, Theme

I don't know that happy people are interesting to write about - or to read about.

- Patrick deWitt

Happy, Interesting, Read, Happy People

I understand the desire to write and read about the death of publishing. It's a perversely and universally appealing topic.

- Patrick deWitt

Death, Desire, Read, Topic

I come by writing dialogue fairly naturally, I've got a chatty family; I'm a bit of a voyeur, and if I'm ever in a public place, I automatically find myself listening.

- Patrick deWitt

Myself, Listening, Fairly, Voyeur

I haven't read a lot of Westerns. But I wrote a Western. The influences were all cinematic.

- Patrick deWitt

Lot, Westerns, Read, Western

Looking around, I saw so many unhappy adults, people who loathed their jobs, and I didn't want to be one of them.

- Patrick deWitt

Want, Jobs, Saw, Adult

When you meet someone you love, whether or not they love you back, something occurs in you that makes you want to improve yourself.

- Patrick deWitt

Love, Want, Makes, Love You

Certain writers look down their noses at plot, and I think I might have been one of them until I tried it.

- Patrick deWitt

Think, Been, Noses, I Tried

'The Sisters Brothers' started out as a little bit of dialogue between these two men who became Eli and Charlie Sisters.

- Patrick deWitt

Started, Brothers, Became, Dialogue

A lot of my favourite books - I should say, not much happens in the books! It's much more about the points of view of the author more than anything else.

- Patrick deWitt

More, About, Author, Points

I've always felt so fortunate to have writing to turn to every day. I'm obsessed with it.

- Patrick deWitt

Every Day, Always, Obsessed, Fortunate

The question about my Canadianness comes up a lot, and I'm never quite sure what to say about it. I've carved a life out for myself in Oregon, and it feels like home, not because it's the States but because that's where my friends are and where my son is.

- Patrick deWitt

Life, Feels, About, Oregon

I wouldn't want to write a biography of anyone. I'd feel too inhibited by the facts and too much pressure to do the subject's life justice.

- Patrick deWitt

Want, Feel, Subject, Biography

I kept trying to write these books that were sort of outside of my realm, and I kept failing.

- Patrick deWitt

Trying, Books, Were, Kept

I am a bit prudish, I think. It's hard for me to write about sex, and I don't really care to read about it, either.

- Patrick deWitt

Think, I Think, Read, Sex

I'm either enjoying myself or I'm not. And if I'm not enjoying myself, something's gone terribly wrong.

- Patrick deWitt

Myself, Either, Terribly, Enjoying

Especially if you're endeavouring daily to write your own books, you read with a degree of - well, it's hard to forget you're a writer when you're reading.

- Patrick deWitt

Degree, Own, Read, Daily

I am increasingly unimpressed by works of art that require a college degree to understand. I think that art should be for everyone. And people should be moved by it.

- Patrick deWitt

College, Think, Increasingly, Moved

I don't know that I'd call myself an optimist.

- Patrick deWitt

Myself, Know, Call, Optimist

The question of likability is a bit of a puzzler for me. You know, I don't write people with likability in mind. It's more whether or not I find them compelling.

- Patrick deWitt

Mind, Question, More, Compelling

I felt like love has been underrepresented - unironic love, just actually really falling in love.

- Patrick deWitt

Love, Falling, Actually, Falling In Love

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