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Willa Cather Quotes

Powerful Willa Cather for Daily Growth

About Willa Cather

Willa Sibert Cather (1873-1947) was an American novelist and short-story writer, best known for her novels set in the American Midwest, particularly Nebraska and the Great Plains. Born on December 7, 1873, in Back Creek Valley, Virginia, Cather was the second of seven children. Her family moved to Webster County, Wisconsin when she was nine years old, and later to Red Cloud, Nebraska. These experiences served as the basis for much of her work. Cather initially studied art at the University of Nebraska, but she found her calling in journalism and fiction writing. After moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cather worked as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Times before moving on to the Home Monthly, where she honed her skills as a writer. In 1906, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in fiction. Cather's first novel, "Alexander's Bridge," was published in 1912, but it was her second novel, "O Pioneers!" (1913), that brought her critical acclaim. This book was followed by "The Song of the Lark" (1915) and "My Antonia" (1918). These novels, along with "One of Ours" (1922), which won the Pulitzer Prize, established Cather as one of America's greatest authors. Cather's works are characterized by their deep exploration of the lives and experiences of pioneers and immigrants in the American West. She was particularly interested in exploring the complexities of identity and the tension between tradition and modernity. Her works often celebrate the beauty and resilience of the American landscape, while also acknowledging its harsh realities. Cather's later years were marked by personal tragedy, including the death of her longtime companion, Edith Lewis, in 1940. However, she continued to write and publish until her own death on April 24, 1947. Today, Cather is remembered as one of America's most important authors, a writer who captured the spirit of the American West with both empathy and insight.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."

Willa Cather's quote suggests that throughout history, humans have experienced a limited number of fundamental, universal stories in life. These narratives, such as love, loss, struggle, triumph, and self-discovery, endure across cultures, societies, and generations, repeating themselves in various forms due to the shared human experiences and emotions they represent. This idea underscores our collective humanity and the timeless nature of human stories.

"The unexamined life is not worth living." (This is a quote from Socrates, but often attributed to Cather)

This quote emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and personal growth in one's life. It suggests that living a life without introspection and understanding of oneself or one's actions is not fulfilling or meaningful. It encourages individuals to reflect on their experiences, values, beliefs, and purpose, as this process can lead to self-improvement, wisdom, and a more authentic, satisfying life.

"One cannot live always in the future, one must have a past and a present as well."

This quote by Willa Cather underscores the importance of balancing our focus on the future with an appreciation for both our past experiences and the current moments that make up our lives. Living solely in the future, without acknowledging or learning from our past or appreciating the present, can lead to a sense of disconnection and dissatisfaction. By embracing all aspects of our timeline – the past, the present, and the future – we create a richer, more fulfilling existence.

"We are all of us starved for solitude, starved for the few, quiet moments that we need if we are going to find ourselves again."

This quote by Willa Cather emphasizes the importance of solitude in our lives. It suggests that in the hustle and bustle of daily existence, we often neglect the need for quiet introspection, a time for self-reflection that allows us to reconnect with ourselves, find balance, and regain perspective. In essence, it highlights the role of solitude in fostering personal growth and understanding.

"What lay behind us and what lay before us were tiny matters compared to what lay within us."

This quote by Willa Cather emphasizes that our inner selves, our thoughts, feelings, and potential, are far more significant than the external world or circumstances we face. It suggests that while it is important to reflect on our past (what lies behind us) and anticipate the future (what lies before us), our true power, growth, and purpose stem from tapping into our innermost capabilities and overcoming personal challenges. In essence, it underscores self-discovery and personal development as the key elements of a fulfilling life.

The condition every art requires is, not so much freedom from restriction, as freedom from adulteration and from the intrusion of foreign matter.

- Willa Cather

Art, Matter, Foreign, Intrusion

What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.

- Willa Cather

Art, Strong, Which, Shining

When kindness has left people, even for a few moments, we become afraid of them as if their reason had left them. When it has left a place where we have always found it, it is like shipwreck; we drop from security into something malevolent and bottomless.

- Willa Cather

Reason, Drop, Had, Bottomless

Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a solitary and an exile, his friends are everything.

- Willa Cather

Friendship, Solitary, Exile, Joys

Sometimes I wonder why God ever trusts talent in the hands of women, they usually make such an infernal mess of it. I think He must do it as a sort of ghastly joke.

- Willa Cather

Hands, Think, I Think, Infernal

The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always.

- Willa Cather

Church, About, Our, Perceptions

Give the people a new word and they think they have a new fact.

- Willa Cather

Think, New, Give, New Word

Paris is a hard place to leave, even when it rains incessantly and one coughs continually from the dampness.

- Willa Cather

Paris, Rains, Continually, Hard Place

The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor.

- Willa Cather

Fact, Never, Pope, Emperor

Sometimes a neighbor whom we have disliked a lifetime for his arrogance and conceit lets fall a single commonplace remark that shows us another side, another man, really; a man uncertain, and puzzled, and in the dark like ourselves.

- Willa Cather

Sometimes, Lifetime, Another, Uncertain

A work-room should be like an old shoe; no matter how shabby, it's better than a new one.

- Willa Cather

New, Old, Like, Shoe

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.

- Willa Cather

Truth, Stupid, How, Truthful

When we look back, the only things we cherish are those which in some way met our original want; the desire which formed in us in early youth, undirected, and of its own accord.

- Willa Cather

Original, Some, Which, Formed

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

- Willa Cather

Nature, Other, Like, Resigned

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

- Willa Cather

Country, Stale, Too, Shabby

That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.

- Willa Cather

Happiness, Great, Complete, Dissolved

Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.

- Willa Cather

New, Country, Absence, Bewildering

To note an artist's limitations is but to define his talent. A reporter can write equally well about everything that is presented to his view, but a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies.

- Willa Cather

Artist, Note, Sympathies, Presented

The sun was like a great visiting presence that stimulated and took its due from all animal energy. When it flung wide its cloak and stepped down over the edge of the fields at evening, it left behind it a spent and exhausted world.

- Willa Cather

Behind, Visiting, Stimulated, Presence

There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.

- Willa Cather

Go, Before, Stories, Repeating

It does not matter much whom we live with in this world, but it matters a great deal whom we dream of.

- Willa Cather

World, Matters, Deal, Great Deal

Desire is creation, is the magical element in that process. If there were an instrument by which to measure desire, one could foretell achievement.

- Willa Cather

Process, Desire, Which, Element

The irregular and intimate quality of things made entirely by the human hand.

- Willa Cather

Made, Things, Irregular, Entirely

The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one's own.

- Willa Cather

Relationship, How, Always, Close

Where there is great love, there are always wishes.

- Willa Cather

Love, Valentine's Day, Where, Great Love

Every artist makes himself born. It is very much harder than the other time, and longer.

- Willa Cather

Other, Himself, Very, Harder

Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.

- Willa Cather

Fifteen, Most, Works, Basic

All the intelligence and talent in the world can't make a singer. The voice is a wild thing. It can't be bred in captivity. It is a sport, like the silver fox. It happens.

- Willa Cather

Voice, Singer, Bred, Captivity

Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.

- Willa Cather

Better, Some, Ever, Memories

The thing that teases the mind over and over for years, and at last gets itself put down rightly on paper whether little or great, it belongs to Literature.

- Willa Cather

Mind, Over, Last, Paper

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