---
title: "4 Short Quotes By Tobias Wolff"
description: "4 Short quotes by Tobias Wolff. Plus more from Tobias Wolff and more Short sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/tobias-wolff-7890_books_the-reader-really-has-to-step-up-to-the_801457.png"
---

> [The reader really has to step up to the plate and read a short story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/the-reader-really-has-to-step-up-to-the-plate-and-read-a-short-story/)

[Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/tobias-wolff-7890_books_the-reader-really-has-to-step-up-to-the_801457.png)

> [Everything has to be pulling weight in a short story for it to be really of the first order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/everything-has-to-be-pulling-weight-in-a-short-story-for-it-to-be/)

[Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d1/tobias-wolff-7890_firsts_everything-has-to-be-pulling-weight-in-a_1146678.png)

> [The short story, on the other hand, is the perfect American form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/the-short-story-on-the-other-hand-is-the-perfect-american-form/)

[Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/tobias-wolff-7890_american_the-short-story-on-the-other-hand-is-the_1689691.png)

> [You have to be kind of clued into them, they are a world of their own, and most people find them disappointing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-have-to-be-kind-of-clued-into-them-they-are-a-world-of-their-own/)

[Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/tobias-wolff-7890_be-kind_you-have-to-be-kind-of-clued-into-them-t_2202360.png)

## Other authors on Short

## 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/)

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