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William T. Vollmann Quotes

Powerful William T. Vollmann for Daily Growth

About William T. Vollmann

William T. Vollmann, born on November 2, 1959, in San Francisco, California, is an acclaimed American author known for his expansive and eclectic literary works that traverse various genres, including fiction, non-fiction, essays, photography, and journalism. Vollmann's early life was marked by instability, as he moved frequently with his mother and siblings due to her struggles with drug addiction and mental health issues. This nomadic upbringing has been a significant influence on his writing, often reflected in the complex characters and settings of his novels. He graduated from Harvard University in 1983, where he studied English literature and anthropology. His academic background is evident in his works, which are characterized by deep research, intricate details, and a keen eye for the human condition. Vollmann's major works include "Argall" (1990), a novel about the history of the American West told through the eyes of an Apache warrior; "The Rainbow Stories" (1995-2007), a seven-volume series exploring love, loss, and redemption; and "Rising Up and Rising Down" (2003-2006), a six-volume exploration of violence in human society. His non-fiction works include "The Thirteen Days: A Novel" (1991), which chronicles the Siege of Wukou, a 14th-century naval battle in Japan; and "Ocean Under the Ice: A Journey to Antarctica" (2009), an account of his journey to Antarctica as a journalist. Vollmann's writing style is marked by its rich detail, intellectual rigor, and an unflinching gaze at humanity's darkest corners. His works have garnered critical acclaim, with several receiving prestigious awards such as the National Book Award for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Despite his success, Vollmann remains a controversial figure due to his provocative themes and unconventional methods of research.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

This quote by William T. Vollmann suggests that our essential identity is not confined to being physical, emotional, or rational beings; rather, we are spiritual entities experiencing life in human form. It implies that there is a deeper, non-physical aspect to our existence, which transcends the human experience and gives meaning to our temporary physical lives. This perspective encourages us to perceive ourselves as multi-dimensional beings, with spiritual dimensions that extend beyond the material world.

"Love is not the opposite of hate, it's the oblivion of it."

William T. Vollmann suggests that love and hate are not mutual opposites, but rather love exists in a state where there is no awareness or acknowledgement of hate. In love, one transcends the negative emotions like hate, creating an environment of oblivion to them. This implies that love has the power to heal and overcome negative sentiments, promoting harmony and understanding.

"The future is an infinite succession of presents and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is enslaving us, is to be a partisan of infinity."

This quote by William T. Vollmann emphasizes the importance of living authentically and with purpose in the present moment, rather than being controlled or defined by external factors or societal norms that may enslave us. He suggests that we should strive to live in accordance with our true human nature and values, which transcend the constraints of time as they extend infinitely into the future. In essence, this quote encourages living fully and courageously now, defying anything that limits our potential or freedom, and embracing the infinite possibilities that life offers us.

"What do I know about life? I only know that I know nothing about life."

This quote by William T. Vollmann expresses a profound sense of humility and acknowledgement of one's limited understanding of life. It suggests that despite our best efforts to comprehend the complexities and mysteries of existence, we are ultimately finite beings grappling with an infinite universe. The quote serves as a reminder of the need for continuous learning, open-mindedness, and a sense of wonder in the face of life's many unknowns.

"Loneliness, it seems, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence."

William T. Vollmann's quote emphasizes the universal experience of loneliness as an inherent aspect of the human condition. In essence, he suggests that despite our interconnectedness, each individual carries within them a sense of isolation and detachment from others. This loneliness may stem from various factors such as emotional distance, physical separation, or spiritual disconnection, but it is a feeling shared by all humans to some degree. The quote invites us to acknowledge and confront this reality, encouraging empathy, understanding, and connection in our relationships with others.

A common measure of poverty is how much money you have in relation to other people - that is useful as far as it goes, but that excludes the case of, say, a hunter in the rainforest who has no money but is not poor. And there can be a number of people with money but who can consider themselves unwanted or invisible or estranged from society.

- William T. Vollmann

Invisible, Other, Relation, How Much Money

As I get older, I find myself getting angrier and angrier. Doubtless, change itself, not to mention physical decline and inevitable petty tragedies of disappointed expectations, would have made for resentment in any event; but I used to be a passive schoolboy, my negative impulses turned obediently inward.

- William T. Vollmann

Used, Turned, Schoolboy, Inward

So far, I've never missed a deadline for a term paper, a review, a manuscript. I perform the mumbo-jumbo of voting with belief in my heart, I've not yet won even a jaywalking ticket, and unlike my father, whom I fault in this respect, I refrain from opting out of jury duty; instead, they mostly kick me out.

- William T. Vollmann

Father, Voting, Mostly, Refrain

My father grew up in an era when to be an American - a white American, at least - was to be yourself. In some respects, his generation was more ignorant, complacent, self-centered and parochial than mine.

- William T. Vollmann

Generation, Some, Mine, Complacent

Kabuki is the way that I so often write; Noh is how I would write if I were more 'spiritual,' more understated, or perhaps just older.

- William T. Vollmann

More, Way, Often, Understated

At least for me, it takes more knowledge to write fiction than nonfiction. At least about someplace that I begin with a lot of ignorance about.

- William T. Vollmann

More, Fiction, Least, Nonfiction

It's fun for me to try to write concise, compact things. It's a very good exercise for me. And I think it's important to try to do different things - change what I write about, and also the way I write. Otherwise, I'd just be repeating myself, which wouldn't be good for me or fair to my readers.

- William T. Vollmann

I Think, Very, Compact, Concise

The first chance I had to go to Japan, which was in the early nineties, I went to a Noh play. I thought, 'This is very, very slow.' I noticed lots of people falling asleep. I didn't really know what was going on; I was getting a little sleepy myself. Then the more I studied it, the more fascinated I got.

- William T. Vollmann

Thought, Play, Very, Nineties

As large publishers turn into monopolies, and the MBAs who are running them - maybe editors used to run them before - are steadily tightening the screws, they feel more and more that they get to call the shots.

- William T. Vollmann

Maybe, Before, Large, Steadily

So much of the destruction on Earth has been wrought by men. Women are the ones who give life and try to pick up the pieces... What a great gender they are.

- William T. Vollmann

Gender, Give, Been, Wrought

I don't subscribe to organised religion. I've travelled enough to see that adherents of organised religion often attack adherents of other religions.

- William T. Vollmann

Other, Subscribe, Organised, Travelled

I don't believe in a personal god. It's good to give thanks, whether or not there's a god. There's no reason not to live life to the fullest. Morality is all the more important for people who don't expect to get a piece of celestial candy after they die.

- William T. Vollmann

Die, Reason, Candy, Celestial

I'm still a marginal figure living from book to book, but, as long as I'm producing labour as a good Marxist prole, I guess I'm satisfied.

- William T. Vollmann

Living, Still, Figure, Marginal

I read and write for most of the day, but I do let myself be interrupted by real life. I enjoy going out with friends and try not to take myself too seriously.

- William T. Vollmann

Myself, Going, Read, Interrupted

I go through all of my old notebooks, and I put an X on every page when everything has been entered into the computer, and sometimes that takes 15 years. But eventually the notebooks are full of X's, and they're no good to me anymore.

- William T. Vollmann

Sometimes, Through, Been, Notebooks

After college, I went to San Francisco and worked as a secretary in a reinsurance company. That was a pretty dismal job. It was a real small place. Guys would come in, and they'd sort of stick out their arms like wings so I could take their coats off. They'd tell me, 'Two,' and I'd put two lumps of sugar in their coffee.

- William T. Vollmann

College, Small, Francisco, Dismal

Everybody is an expert on one thing - that's what I learned in my high school journalism class - and that's, of course, his own life. And everybody deserves to live and have his story told. And if it doesn't seem like an interesting story, then that's the failure of the listener, or the journalist who retells it badly.

- William T. Vollmann

Expert, Everybody, Badly, Journalism

Once you've finished typing and moving text around and everything else, you have to leave it alone for a while. You do that to see if it stands up, to see if all the loose edges have been trimmed, if it makes sense, if it's consistent, what shape it really has. You can't tell that while you're working on it.

- William T. Vollmann

Tell, Been, While, Everything Else

When I go train hopping and I look up into the sky, there are always so many more stars than I remember there were.

- William T. Vollmann

Sky, I Remember, Always, Train

Whenever I travel to a poor country, I try to help at least one person. Usually, that person helps me just as much - I can find a local poor person to be my guide or my interpreter. That person makes money from me, I make money from him or her, we both learn about each other. It's an equal win-win relationship.

- William T. Vollmann

Country, Other, Least, Interpreter

There's an Inuit myth about the origin of the human race. There were two brothers, and the younger brother eventually gets changed into a woman. And that's how humans reproduced. And I thought, 'How could I really understand that?'

- William T. Vollmann

Woman, Thought, Brothers, Changed

I first got really interested in Noh in about 1977. There was an independent bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana where I was going to high school. It was a really nice place. There was a New Directions paperback. It was the Pound/Fenollosa book, 'The Classic Noh Theatre of Japan.'

- William T. Vollmann

Book, Independent, Japan, Paperback

Americans worry that Afghanistan has become a petri dish in which the germs of Islamic fanaticism are replicating - soon Afghans will be hijacking American planes and bombing embassies everywhere. And their fears are not necessarily unfounded. The Taliban are unemployed war veterans, ready and even eager to return to the battlefield.

- William T. Vollmann

Veterans, Islamic, Eager, Hijacking

Precisely because I'm a man who is attracted to women, there may be some things that I have to say as a spectator of feminine grace that women themselves may not be able to see.

- William T. Vollmann

Some, Feminine, May, Spectator

'In the nineteenth century, we beat the British more than once,' Afghans often told me. 'In the twentieth century, we beat the Russians. In the twenty-first, if we have to, we'll beat the Americans!'

- William T. Vollmann

More, Russians, Afghans, Twentieth

There have been times when I'm writing about things that are personally embarrassing. Like any human being, sometimes I can't help but wonder - 'What are the people I know going to think about this?' So I have to remind myself that all is permissible. Art has to be a free space. Language has to be a free space.

- William T. Vollmann

Sometimes, Been, About, Permissible

The case of Afghanistan vs. the Soviet Union is the clearest case of good against evil that I've seen in my lifetime. I thought it was terrific the way they got their country back.

- William T. Vollmann

Thought, Country, Clearest, Case

Whenever we have an opportunity to engage with each other as human beings and to minimize the differences between us based on disparity in resources, then we should do it.

- William T. Vollmann

Other, Minimize, Based, Disparity

I didn't vote for Bush, and I'm not happy particularly that he's president. But I will say I'm impressed that he didn't start bombing Afghanistan the day after Sept. 11. The more time that passes without him bombing Afghanistan, the more I respect him.

- William T. Vollmann

Happy, Bush, Impressed, Vote

Really what it gets down to is that my idea of the American life, the American dream, whatever, is that I can do what I wish in the privacy of my own home. And as long as I'm not hurting anyone, no one has a right to know what I do. The main thing that I have to hide is that I don't have anything to hide.

- William T. Vollmann

Own, Idea, Main Thing, Hurting

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