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Quote by Robert Dessaix

“I think it is an important question of our lives - what is the meaning of literature to us as humans.”

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Robert Dessaix, born on February 17, 1944, is an acclaimed Australian novelist known for his delicate emotions and profound reflections in his works. His novels primarily explore themes of personal identity, cultural identity, and moral ethics. more

“Despite the war, and bombings, and all the big things that happen to us, the stuff of our lives is small and always will be. During a war it is different, but even then, it is perfectly possible to write novels during a major war, which are about those thing which endure. It is what makes us human and the thing which is going to keep going.”

Writing Humans Different War Bigs Happens Life Is Stuff Novel Our Lives Majors Endure Despite Keep Going Big Things Bombing

Author:Robert Dessaix

“Those are the two things: a sense of loving and being loved, and being creative - that is what life is made up of, and what literature reminds us of.”

Made Two Life Is Literature Creative Two Things Be Creative Being Loved

Author:Robert Dessaix

“The Odyssey and Iliad say things about the human condition in ways we should re-acquaint ourselves with, and use as a prism to interpret though.”

Way Should Humans Use Conditions Human Condition Odyssey Prisms Iliad

Author:Robert Dessaix

“When I re-read the Odyssey, it felt like I was reading PD James or Minette Walters - you feel that you are sharing in something that hundreds of millions of people have read with love, and I think that this is worth holding onto. It is not a matter of canonical texts or elitism, which the universities are trying to make us wary about. It is about shared language and metaphor and experience and imagery and that is all good.”

People Thinking Feels Trying Matter Reading Language Felt Millions University Metaphor Imagery Holding On Elitism Odyssey

Author:Robert Dessaix

“A form of art that I like is portraiture. I've been thinking about portraiture, and its relationship to writing and literature, biography and autobiography, and so that will be my next thing.”

Thinking Writing Art Form Next Literature Autobiography Biographies Portraiture

Author:Robert Dessaix

“I don't write quickly or a lot. Well actually I write quickly, but I don't have a store of things. I will wait for that erotic moment - like the one which struck me when someone said "have you ever heard of Kester Berwick?"”

Writing Wells Said Moments Waiting Heard Stores Erotic

Author:Robert Dessaix

“One of the unfortunate things about creative writing courses is that they make people impatient. People feel that they have prepared themselves and that they must now do it. In fact there are positive incentives for doing so - universities are offering degrees for writing novels.”

People Feels Writing Facts Courses Novel Creative Degrees Prepared University Offering Unfortunate Creative Writing Incentives Impatient Unfortunate Things

Author:Robert Dessaix

“I am coming from an older school, and I feel that you must learn to wait. There is that essay which was about the great notion of sitting on the mountain and waiting for the muses to cross the stream, and give you the symbols that would allow you to create. The word wait seems to me to be terribly important.”

Giving Feels Important Seems School Waiting Mountain Sitting Crosses Notion Symbols Streams Muse Essays

Author:Robert Dessaix

“Writers feel that they can't afford to wait. They must do it now, and they are so clever, and there is so much competition. I'm quite happy to wait, and quite confident that the muses will cross the stream.”

Feels Waiting Crosses Competition Clever Streams Muse

Author:Robert Dessaix

“I started out as a teenager I was a snooker player, or pool player. Through that I met some other teenagers that were gamblers, if you will, who started basement games. I was just sort of learning on the go, losing my $10.”

Ifs Games Player Mets Losing Teenager Pool Basements Snooker

Author:Daniel Negreanu

Quote by Robert Dessaix

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