Home / Quotes / Quote by Wallace Stegner

Quote by Wallace Stegner

“…the understanding of any person is an exercise in genealogy. A man is not a static organism to be taken apart and analyzed and classified. A man is movement, motion, a continuum. There is no beginning to him. He runs through his ancestors, and the only beginning is the primal beginning of the single cell in the slime. The proper study of mankind is man, but man is an endless curve on the eternal graph paper, and who can see the whole curve?”

Book:The Big Rock Candy Mountain

Work

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Wallace Stegner

Wallace Stegner was an influential American historian known for his extensive research on the history of the American West. His works not only documented the pioneering journey of the American West but also profoundly reflected the relationship between humans and nature. Stegner's writing style was unique and his language beautiful, which won him great popularity among readers. more

“I know the meaning of humility. It is not self-disparagement. It is the motive power of action. If, intending to absolve myself, I plead fate as the excuse for my misfortunes, I subject myself to fate. If I plead treason as their excuse, I subject myself to treason. But if I accept responsibility, I affirm my strength as a man. I am able to influence that of which I form part. I declare myself a constituent part of the community of mankind.”

Inspirational War Existence Responsibility Enemy Mankind Humility France Plane Arras

Book:Flight to Arras

Source: Flight to Arras

“For me the book is the man and my book is the man I am, the confused man, the negligent man, the recklass man, the lusty, obscene, boisterous, thoughtful, scrupulous, lying, diabolically thruthful man that I am.”

Truth Mankind Balance Man Yinyang

Book:Black Spring

Source: Black Spring

“Humans are the most important entity in the universe … only to most people.”

Science Humanity Mankind Humility Humble Arrogance Arrogant Modesty Modest Anthropocentrism

Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“We will die and we fear death. This fear is worldwide and transcultural. It probably has significant survival value. Those who wish to postpone or avoid death can improve the world, reduce its perils, make children who will live after us, and create great works by which they will be remembered.”