---
title: "3 Illumination Quotes By Carson McCullers"
description: "3 Illumination quotes by Carson McCullers. Plus more from Carson McCullers and more Illumination sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg"
---

> [The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seldom-realized-by-the-author/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg)

> [What are the sources of an illumination? To me, they come after hours of searching and keeping my soul ready. Yet they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination-to-me-they-come-after-hours/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74e/carson-mccullers-1694_after-hours_what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination_719656.png)

> [For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and valor. Of the endless fluid passage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination-he-saw-a-glimpse-of-human/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/carson-mccullers-1694_age_for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination_2784913.jpg)

## Other authors on Illumination

- [Stefan Emunds 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/stefan-emunds/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-joseph-campbell-53286.jpg) Joseph Campbell 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/joseph-campbell/)

## More by Carson McCullers

> [“Because things accumulate around your name," said Berenice. "You have a name and one thing after another happens to you, and you behave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/because-things-accumulate-around-your-name-said-berenice-you-have-a/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [It was like she was cheated. Only nobody had cheated her. So there was nobody to take it out on. However, just the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-was-like-she-was-cheated-only-nobody-had-cheated-her-so-there-was/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“Love is a joint experience between two persons—but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/love-is-a-joint-experience-between-two-persons-but-the-fact-that-it/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [The thinking mind is best controlled by the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-thinking-mind-is-best-controlled-by-the-imagination/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“He was like a man who had served a term in prison or had been to Harvard College or had left for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/he-was-like-a-man-who-had-served-a-term-in-prison-or-had-been-to/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [Comparing the Brooklyn that I know with Manhattan is like comparing a comfortable and complacent duenna to her more brilliant and neurotic sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/comparing-the-brooklyn-that-i-know-with-manhattan-is-like-comparing-a/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“Son, do you know how love should be begun?" The boy sat small and listening and still. Slowly he shook his head. The old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/son-do-you-know-how-love-should-be-begun-the-boy-sat-small-and/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-most-fatal-thing-a-man-can-do-is-try-to-stand-alone/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seldom-realized-by-the-author/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [Now hoppin'-john was F. Jasmine's very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/now-hoppin-john-was-f-jasmine-s-very-favorite-food-she-had-always/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/there-s-nothing-that-makes-you-so-aware-of-the-improvisation-of-human/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/maybe-when-people-longed-for-a-thing-that-bad-the-longing-made-them/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“But the music did not come again. The tune was left broken, unfinished. And the drawn tightness she could no longer stand. She felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/but-the-music-did-not-come-again-the-tune-was-left-broken-unfinished/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [“...we must remember that we all make the things of this earth of value because of labor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/we-must-remember-that-we-all-make-the-things-of-this-earth-of-value/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

> [I have more to say than Hemingway, and God knows, I say it better than Faulkner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/i-have-more-to-say-than-hemingway-and-god-knows-i-say-it-better-than/)

[Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/#itemlist",
            "name": "3 Illumination Quotes By Carson McCullers",
            "numberOfItems": 3,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream. Ideas grow, budding silently, and there are a thousand illuminations coming day by day as the work progresses. A seed grows in writing as in nature. The seed of the idea is developed by both labor and the unconscious, and the struggle that goes on between them.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Carson McCullers"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seldom-realized-by-the-author/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like…” — Carson McCullers",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What are the sources of an illumination? To me, they come after hours of searching and keeping my soul ready. Yet they come in a flash, as a religious phenomenon. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter had such an illumination, beginning my long search for the truth of the story and flashing light into the long two years ahead.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Carson McCullers"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination-to-me-they-come-after-hours/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74e/carson-mccullers-1694_after-hours_what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination_719656.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74e/carson-mccullers-1694_after-hours_what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination_719656.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74e/carson-mccullers-1694_after-hours_what-are-the-sources-of-an-illumination_719656.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What are the sources of an illumination? To me, they come after hours of searching and keeping my soul…” — Carson McCullers",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and valor. Of the endless fluid passage of the humanity through endless time. And of those who labor and of those who - one word- love. His soul expanded. But for a moment only. For in him, he felt a warning, a shaft of terror.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Carson McCullers"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination-he-saw-a-glimpse-of-human/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/carson-mccullers-1694_age_for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination_2784913.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/carson-mccullers-1694_age_for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination_2784913.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/carson-mccullers-1694_age_for-in-a-swift-radiance-of-illumination_2784913.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and valor. Of the endless fluid…” — Carson McCullers",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/",
            "name": "Illumination Quotes by Carson McCullers",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg"
            },
            "description": "3 Illumination quotes by Carson McCullers. Plus more from Carson McCullers and more Illumination sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Illumination",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Carson McCullers",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/carson-mccullers/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
