90 Thomas Wolfe Quotes All Aspiring Writers Should Read
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Thomas Wolfe was an extremely popular American novelist who was born in 1900.
Over his short life of 38 years, he has written four full-fledged novels along with numerous short stories. His writings focused mainly on the American culture, drama, and a perspective of hyper-analysis.
'Look Homeward, Angel ', 'Of Time And The River', 'The Web And The Rock' and 'You Can't Go Home Again' are famous works he was author of. Wolfe got sick with miliary tuberculosis, and ultimately he lost his entire functioning of the right side of his brain.
He passed away three weeks before his 38th birthday. If you love novels, be sure to check out these awesome Thomas Wolfe quotes.
For more content like Thomas Wolfe quotes, check out John Milton quotes and William Faulkner quotes
Best Thomas Wolfe Quotes
Below are the very best quotes of Thomas Wolfe along with quotes on men and quotes on New York.
1. "All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken."
- Thomas Wolfe.
2. "Man is born to live, to suffer, and to die, and what befalls him is a tragic lot."
- Thomas Wolfe.
3. "Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again..."
- Thomas Wolfe.
4. "Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America -- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can't Go Home Again’.
5. "You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity."
- Thomas Wolfe.
6. "...for they come up from the earth that never changes, they go back into the earth that lasts forever. Only the earth endures, but it endures forever."
- Thomas Wolfe.
7. "...but, child, this is the chronicle of the earth."
- Thomas Wolfe.
8. "Is this not the true romantic feeling; not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you."
- Thomas Wolfe.
9. "...we are strange and beautiful asleep; for we are dying the darkness and we know no death."
- Thomas Wolfe.
10. "Not even the most powerful organs of the press, including Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times, can discover a new artist or certify his work and make it stick."
- Thomas Wolfe.
11. "All things that lapse and change and come again upon the earth-these things will always be the same..."
- Thomas Wolfe.
12. "Most of the time we think we're sick, it's all in the mind."
- Thomas Wolfe.
13. "...and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas."
- Thomas Wolfe.
14. "In Sleep we lie all naked and alone, in Sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness..."
- Thomas Wolfe.
15. "There is no denying this in the final end. But we must deny it all along the way."
- Thomas Wolfe.
Famous Quotes From Thomas Wolfe
Here are famous Thomas Wolfe quotes, including quotes on art and culture.
16. "The reason a writer writes a book is to forget a book and the reason a reader reads one is to remember it."
- Thomas Wolfe.
17. "...like a dream of death, when he who comes as mourner finds himself in the coffin, or as witness to a hanging, the condemned upon the scaffold."
- Thomas Wolfe.
18. "He has everything and he is able to use nothing."
- Thomas Wolfe.
19. "Peace fell upon her spirit. Strong comfort and assurance bathed her whole being."
- Thomas Wolfe.
20. "We'll smell smoke then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure."
- Thomas Wolfe.
21. "From this time forth, with the sanction of the courts, they kept him."
- Thomas Wolfe.
22. "It was like a dream of hell, when a man finds his own name staring at him from the Devil's ledger..."
- Thomas Wolfe.
23. "This time it was obvious that a work of more than usual magnitude was in transit."
- Thomas Wolfe.
24. "I, too, am here--here in the darkness waiting, here attentive, here approving of your labor and your dream."
- Thomas Wolfe.
25. "Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don't freeze up."
- Thomas Wolfe.
26. "There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves."
- Thomas Wolfe.
27. "No longer now for them was there a single tenement and dwelling place."
- Thomas Wolfe.
28. "A young man is so strong, so mad, so certain, and so lost."
- Thomas Wolfe.
29. "Put destined outlook aside, stem the emotional tide, extend this choppy ride, love neither can hide."
- Thomas Wolfe.
30. "If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he uses the whole of it, he has succeeded, and won a satisfaction and triumph few men ever know."
- Thomas Wolfe.
31. "Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man."
- Thomas Wolfe.
32. "Shapely mouth a chatter, makes hearts a patter, does it all matter, each live’s almost shatter."
- Thomas Wolfe.
33. "Life was so solid and splendid, and so good."
- Thomas Wolfe.
34. "It seems to me that in the orbit of our world you are the North Pole, I the South--so much in balance, in agreement--and yet... the whole world lies between.”
- Thomas Wolfe.
35. "Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs."
- Thomas Wolfe.
36. "And constantly search for a sign from above."
- Thomas Wolfe.
37. "Then summer fades and passes and October comes."
- Thomas Wolfe.
38. "This is the artist, then—life's hungry man, the glutton of eternity, beauty's miser, glory's slave."
- Thomas Wolfe.
39. "At this hour of the day we sicken at the Greek's hot window."
- Thomas Wolfe.
40. "Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man."
- Thomas Wolfe.
41. "You have stumbled on in darkness, you have been pulled in opposite directions, you have faltered..."
- Thomas Wolfe.
42. "Is it the little labor that she asks that we begrudge?"
- Thomas Wolfe.
43. "One belongs to New York instantly, and one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years."
- Thomas Wolfe.
Thomas Wolfe Quotes From His Poems
Here are some Thomas Wolfe quotes from his poems.
44. "For the continuum of time and place to stand still
For an endless kiss that transcends emotions and thrill."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘For Hope’.
45. "Remember, remember, remember me
lost, lost, lost
flying upon the edges of wonder
cloaked in the bloody trails of history
as woman."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Wind’.
46. "Eyes that dance, hint of romance, that darting glance, wants another chance..."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Eyes That Dance’.
47. "Beam with delight, upon first sight
Eyes peer within, the magic begins
Lips purse apart, crescendo to start."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘August Apart’.
48. "For this and more to happen in a well-nigh place
Or perchance the ability to forever see your face
I will stand guard with the keys to passion and love..."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘For Hope’.
49. "Time stood still, testing one’s will, engage all thy skill, make only presence fill..."
- Thomas Wolfe, Eyes That Dance’.
Thomas Wolfe Quotes From His Books
Here you will find the best Thomas Wolfe 'You Can’t Go Home Again' quotes, Thomas Wolfe '‘Look Homeward, Angel’ quotes, and other quotes from author Thomas Wolfe books.
50. “So now they were together. But things were not quite the same between them as they had once been. Even on the surface they were different.”
- Thomas Wolfe., ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
51. "As time went on, the necessities of competition forced him to add a lumber yard to his brick yard, but that was only a grudging concession to the time and place."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
52. "An observer would have felt in the complexion of this gathering a somewhat mixed quality--a quality that was at once strange and familiar, alien and native, cosmopolitan and provincial."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
53. "The boy had been devoted to his father, but now the Joyners made him one of them."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
54. "It is true that some of them might have known, had their interest and attention been directed toward this geographic fact, had they been looking for it."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
55. "The huge black snout of a mountain engine comes shifting down the track to take you up behind, and suddenly you know the hills are there."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
56. "Toil on, son, and do not lose heart or hope. Let nothing you dismay. You are not utterly forsaken."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
57. "They went to war in the West, and yet they didn't want to go to war."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
58. "Who has seen fury riding in the mountains? Who has known fury striding in the storm?"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
59. "And so it goes, everyone debating, arguing, agreeing, and denying, giving his own version and his own opinion; and Mr. Matthews asking questions and writing things down in a book…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
60. "Is it the little effort which it would require that we abhor?"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
61. “The simple joy he felt at being once more a part of such familiar things also contained an element of strangeness and unreality.”
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
62. "First of all, the physical changes and transitions of the journey are strange and wonderful enough."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
64. "Sharp hatred crossed his vision now, and so enlightened it; he licked his lips and tasted bitterness."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
65. "It was now the full height of steaming summer, and one day early in August George came home to find the movers in the house again."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
66. "We loathe the sight of concrete walls, the fly-speckled windows of the Greek, the strawberry horror of the row of lukewarm soda-pop."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
67. "The journey from the mountain town of Altamont to the tower-masted island of Manhattan is not, as journeys are conceived in America, a long one."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
68. "This fatal quality of that weblike memory drowned the boy's soul in desolation."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
69. "Anyone is happy who confidently awaits the fulfilment of his highest dreams, and in that way George Was happy."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
70. "Don't break our heart, our hope, our ecstasy, don't shatter irrevocably some brave adventure of the spirit, or some brooding dream…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
71. "Nor was there any good reason why this traveller who had glanced so swiftly and indifferently from the window of the train should feel any greater interest than he showed."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
72. "Then, about eight months after this, when the story of this ghostly apparition was still fresh in people's minds, and made matter for awed conversation when they gathered, another extraordinary incident occurred!"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
73. "...its clear familiarity and its haunting strangeness, and its lovely and tragic beauty."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
74. "In the months that followed, again and again George would come in the house to find the hall below full of sweating, panting movers, over whom Katamoto, covered from head to foot with clots and lumps of plaster, would hover prayerfully and with a fearful…"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
75. "It is the world of the sun-warm, time-far clucking of the sensual hens in the forenoon strangeness of the spell of time, and the coarse, sweet coolness of Crane's cow along the alleyway…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
76. "But that was before he knew what it was like to be a great editor."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
77. "He never knew if fury had lain dormant all those years, had worked secret, silent, like a madness in the blood."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
78. "Thus the circus moved across America, from town to town, from state to state, eating its way from Maine into the great plains of the West, eating its way along the Hudson and the Mississippi Rivers…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
79. "There may have been a time when an intense and steady flame had been alive in the quiet depths of Otto Hauser's spirit."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
80. "It is the world of warmth, nearness, certitude, the wails of home! It is the world of the plain faces, and the sounding belly laughter…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
81. "How have we breathed him, drunk him, eaten fury to the core, until we have him in us now and cannot lose him anywhere we go?"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
82. "Who has been mad with fury in his youth, given no rest or peace or certitude by fury, driven on across the earth by fury…"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
83. "Abroad in this ocean of earth and vision, the boy thought of his father's land, of its great red barns..."
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
84. "George knew how fortunate he was to have as his editor a man like Fox. And as time went on, and his respect and admiration for the older man warmed to deep affection…"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
85. "Then, then, will fury leave us, he will cease from those red channels of our life he has so often run, another sort of worm will work at that great vine, where he fed.
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
86. "The centre of the room, however, had been left entirely bare save for a big strip of spattered canvas and an enormous plaster figure."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
87. "That vision of the city was gathered from a thousand isolated sources, from the pages of books, the words of a traveler…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
88. "Was it in such a way, one time as he awoke, and heard below his father's lion-ramp of morning that fury came?"
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘Of Time And The River’.
89. "Otto Hauser was possessed of remarkable gifts, yet he was almost wholly lacking in those qualities which cause a man to ‘get on’ in the world."
- Thomas Wolfe, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.
90. "Then his spirit flamed beyond the hills, beyond lost time and sorrow, to his father and his father's earth…"
- Thomas, Wolfe, ‘The Web And The Rock’.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Thomas Wolfe quotes then why not take a look at Arthur Miller quotes, or Tennessee Williams quotes.
second image credit: Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
Moumita DuttaBachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
A content writer and editor with a passion for sports, Moumita has honed her skills in producing compelling match reports and stories about sporting heroes. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University, alongside a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management.
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