Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Willa Cather

Quote by Willa Cather

“Whatever is felt upon the page without being specifically named there - that, one might say, is created. It is the inexplicable presence of the thing not named, of the overtone divined by the ear but not heard by it, the verbal mood, the emotional aura of the fact or the thing or the deed, that gives high quality to the novel or the drama, as well as to poetry itself.”

Quote by Willa Cather

Book:Not Under Forty
Create image

Work

Not Under Forty

This book delves into the lives of individuals as they navigate the challenges and transformations that come with reaching middle age. more

Author

Willa Cather
Willa Cather

American author known for her depictions of the American Midwest. Cather's works often feature female protagonists, showcasing their resilience and growth in challenging environments. Her notable works include 'My Ántonia' and 'O Pioneers!' more

You May Also Like

“The higher processes are all processes of simplification. The novelist must learn to write, and then he must unlearn it; just as the modern painter learns to draw, and then learns when utterly to disregard his accomplishment, when to subordinate it to a higher and truer effect.”

WritingProcessModernEffectsHigherDrawsPainterNovelistsAccomplishmentDisregardSubordinatesSimplificationUnlearn
Book:Willa Cather on Writing: Critical Studies on Writing as an Art
Create image

“There is a popular superstition that "realism" asserts itself in the cataloguing of a great number of material objects, in explaining mechanical processes, the methods of operating manufactories and trades, and in minutely and unsparingly describing physical sensations. But is not realism, more than it is anything else, an attitude of mind on the part of the writer toward his material, a vague indication of the sympathy and candour with which he accepts, rather than chooses, his theme?”

MindProcessNumbersAttitudeAcceptingObjectsMaterialsMethodTradeThemeSensationsSuperstitionsRealismVagueExplainingDescribingIndicationCandour
Book:Not Under Forty
Create image

“Every artist knows that there is no such thing as "freedom" in art. The first thing an artist does when he begins a new work is to lay down the barriers and limitations; he decides upon a certain composition, a certain key, a certain relation of creatures or objects to each other. He is never free, and the more splendid his imagination, the more intense his feeling, the farther he goes from general truth and general emotion.”

KnowsFirstsDoeArtFeelingsArtistCertainImaginationEmotionObjectsKeysCreaturesRelationLaysIntenseLimitationBarriersCompositionSplendidNew WorkDecide Upon
Book:Willa Cather on Writing: Critical Studies on Writing as an Art
Create image

“Art is a concrete and personal and rather childish thing after all - no matter what people do to graft it into science and make it sociological and psychological; it is no good at all unless it is let alone to be itself - a game of make-believe, or re-production, very exciting and delightful to people who have an ear for it or an eye for it.”

PeopleBelieveArtMatterEyeGamesArt IsEarsExcitingNo Matter WhatProductionsPsychologicalConcreteDelightfulMake BelieveSociologicalChildish Things
Book:Willa Cather on Writing: Critical Studies on Writing as an Art
Create image