--- title: "1 Affirming Quotes By Tobias Wolff" description: "1 Affirming quotes by Tobias Wolff. Plus more from Tobias Wolff and more Affirming sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/tobias-wolff-7890_affirming_the-very-act-of-writing-assumes-to-begin_1272920.jpg" --- > [The very act of writing assumes, to begin with, that someone cares to hear what you have to say. It assumes that people share, that people can be reached, that people can be touched and even in some cases changed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/the-very-act-of-writing-assumes-to-begin-with-that-someone-cares-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/tobias-wolff-7890_affirming_the-very-act-of-writing-assumes-to-begin_1272920.jpg) ## More by Tobias Wolff > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [We even talked like Hemingway characters, though in travesty, as if to deny our discipleship: That is your bed, and it is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/we-even-talked-like-hemingway-characters-though-in-travesty-as-if-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“But for now Anders can still make time. Time for the shadows to lengthen on the grass, time for the tethered dog to bark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/but-for-now-anders-can-still-make-time-time-for-the-shadows-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [One of the last courses I taught was on the Russian short story, which I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/one-of-the-last-courses-i-taught-was-on-the-russian-short-story-which/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“He did not remember when everything began to remind him of something else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/he-did-not-remember-when-everything-began-to-remind-him-of-something/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-people-s-feelings-when-i-teach/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Work for most people is really very social, and the actual thinking is often done in community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/work-for-most-people-is-really-very-social-and-the-actual-thinking-is/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Writers cannot let themselves be servants of the official mythology. They have to, whatever the cost, say what truth they have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/writers-cannot-let-themselves-be-servants-of-the-official-mythology/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [One can imagine a world without essays. It would be a little poorer, of course, like a world without chess, but one could live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/one-can-imagine-a-world-without-essays-it-would-be-a-little-poorer-of/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I was giving up--being realistic, as people liked to say, meaning the same thing. Being realistic made me feel bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-was-giving-up-being-realistic-as-people-liked-to-say-meaning-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“Lose Faith. Pray anyway. Persist. We are made to persist, to complete the whole tour. That's how we find out who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/lose-faith-pray-anyway-persist-we-are-made-to-persist-to-complete-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I believe that the short story is as different a form from the novel as poetry is, and the best stories seem to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-believe-that-the-short-story-is-as-different-a-form-from-the-novel/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/it-s-probably-why-i-m-a-short-story-writer-i-tend-to-remember-things/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/when-we-are-green-still-half-created-we-believe-that-our-dreams-are/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirming/tobias-wolff/#itemlist", "name": "1 Affirming Quotes By Tobias Wolff", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The very act of writing assumes, to begin with, that someone cares to hear what you have to say. 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