--- title: "10 Want Quotes By Colum McCann" description: "10 Want quotes by Colum McCann. Plus more from Colum McCann and more Want sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cb/colum-mccann-902_american_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_2075650.png" --- > [The contemporary American novelist benefits in a way from being ignored. It makes you angrier and makes you want to go into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-contemporary-american-novelist-benefits-in-a-way-from-being-2/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cb/colum-mccann-902_american_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_2075650.png) > [I mean, every novel's a historical novel anyway. But calling something a historical novel seems to put mittens on it, right? It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-mean-every-novel-s-a-historical-novel-anyway-but-calling-something/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/colum-mccann-902_anyway_i-mean-every-novel-s-a-historical-novel_1448895.png) > [Part of me really wants to believe that hope is entirely available to all of us. We don't have to embrace it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that-hope-is-entirely-available-to/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/colum-mccann-902_available_part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that_2482898.png) > [He looks like the sort of man who can't afford to leave, and doesn't want to stay, and so he is doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/he-looks-like-the-sort-of-man-who-can-t-afford-to-leave-and-doesn-t/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/colum-mccann-902_looks_he-looks-like-the-sort-of-man-who-can-t_1623421.png) > [The contemporary American novelist benefits in a way from being ignored. It makes you angrier and makes you want to go into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-contemporary-american-novelist-benefits-in-a-way-from-being/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/colum-mccann-902_being-ignored_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_1738997.png) > [Let this be a lesson to us all, said the preacher. You will be walking someday in the dark and the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the-preacher-you-will-be-walking/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/colum-mccann-902_behind-you_let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the_2587763.png) > [That was the sort of everyday love I had to learn to contend with: if you grow up with it, it's hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had-to-learn-to-contend-with-if/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b37/colum-mccann-902_children_that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had_1824524.png) > [I know already that I will return to this day whenever I want to. I can bid it alive. Preserve it. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-this-day-whenever-i-want-to-i-2/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d7/colum-mccann-902_alive_i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-thi_2729815.jpg) > [If you have a structure beforehand, you're sort of stuffing your story into a pre-assembled box. You don't want that to happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-re-sort-of-stuffing-your-story/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/colum-mccann-902_architecture_if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-r_1119695.jpg) > [I want the younger writer to know that she or he is meaningful, that what they have to say is powerful in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-she-or-he-is-meaningful-that/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/colum-mccann-902_curtains_i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-s_1921044.jpg) ## Other authors on Want ## More by Colum McCann > [Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/give-life-long-enough-and-it-will-solve-all-your-problems-including/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/there-is-something-that-happens-to-the-mind-in-moments-of-terror/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“The short sharp shock of three thousand mother two hundred mothers. The ones who picked through the supermarket debris for pieces of their dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-short-sharp-shock-of-three-thousand-mother-two-hundred-mothers/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Once we had filled each other with desire, not remembrance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/once-we-had-filled-each-other-with-desire-not-remembrance/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“How long ago it was and how strange, but all dead friends come to life again sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/how-long-ago-it-was-and-how-strange-but-all-dead-friends-come-to-life/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She would want, instead, to recall him in the air, between layers of cloud. To give him back that ancient dignity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-would-want-instead-to-recall-him-in-the-air-between-layers-of/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/novels-are-more-difficult-simply-because-they-are-longer-and-require/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/it-was-a-silence-that-heard-itself-awful-and-beautiful/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I think one of the biggest political failures, and the biggest social failures, over the past few years has been the failure of empathy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-political-failures-and-the-biggest-social/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Bits of it floating in the air, he said. "It's like dust. You walk about and don't see it, don't notice it, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/bits-of-it-floating-in-the-air-he-said-it-s-like-dust-you-walk-about/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“He has read whole volumes on the philosophy of nonviolence. How peace had to be understood in all its moral dimensions. The proper coexistence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/he-has-read-whole-volumes-on-the-philosophy-of-nonviolence-how-peace/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She’s always thought that one of the beauties of New York is that you can be from anywhere and within moments of landing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-s-always-thought-that-one-of-the-beauties-of-new-york-is-that-you/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She had that emigrant’s sadness—she would never go back to her old country—it was gone in more senses than one—but she was forever gazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-had-that-emigrant-s-sadness-she-would-never-go-back-to-her-old/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/colum-mccann/#itemlist", "name": "10 Want Quotes By Colum McCann", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The contemporary American novelist benefits in a way from being ignored. 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It would be sentimental and silly to say that we all need it, but it is absolutely available to all of us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that-hope-is-entirely-available-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/colum-mccann-902_available_part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that_2482898.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/colum-mccann-902_available_part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that_2482898.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/colum-mccann-902_available_part-of-me-really-wants-to-believe-that_2482898.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Part of me really wants to believe that hope is entirely available to all of us. 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It makes you angrier and makes you want to go into all of those places where you shouldnt.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-contemporary-american-novelist-benefits-in-a-way-from-being/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/colum-mccann-902_being-ignored_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_1738997.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/colum-mccann-902_being-ignored_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_1738997.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/colum-mccann-902_being-ignored_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_1738997.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The contemporary American novelist benefits in a way from being ignored. 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You will be walking someday in the dark and the truth will come shining through, and behind you will be a life that you never want to see again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the-preacher-you-will-be-walking/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/colum-mccann-902_behind-you_let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the_2587763.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/colum-mccann-902_behind-you_let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the_2587763.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/colum-mccann-902_behind-you_let-this-be-a-lesson-to-us-all-said-the_2587763.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let this be a lesson to us all, said the preacher. 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I used to think it was difficult for children of folks who really loved each other, hard to get out from under that skin because sometimes it's just so comfortable you don't want to have to develop your own.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had-to-learn-to-contend-with-if/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b37/colum-mccann-902_children_that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had_1824524.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b37/colum-mccann-902_children_that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had_1824524.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b37/colum-mccann-902_children_that-was-the-sort-of-everyday-love-i-had_1824524.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That was the sort of everyday love I had to learn to contend with: if you grow up with it, it's hard to…” — Colum McCann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know already that I will return to this day whenever I want to. I can bid it alive. Preserve it. There is a still point where the present, the now, winds around itself, and nothing is tangled. The river is not where it begins or ends, but right in the middle point, anchored by what has happened and what is to arrive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-this-day-whenever-i-want-to-i-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d7/colum-mccann-902_alive_i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-thi_2729815.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d7/colum-mccann-902_alive_i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-thi_2729815.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d7/colum-mccann-902_alive_i-know-already-that-i-will-return-to-thi_2729815.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know already that I will return to this day whenever I want to. I can bid it alive. Preserve it. There is…” — Colum McCann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you have a structure beforehand, you're sort of stuffing your story into a pre-assembled box. You don't want that to happen. What you want in your writing is to have a sort of wildness that occurs. And then, out of the wildness, a structure emerges.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-re-sort-of-stuffing-your-story/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/colum-mccann-902_architecture_if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-r_1119695.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/colum-mccann-902_architecture_if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-r_1119695.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/colum-mccann-902_architecture_if-you-have-a-structure-beforehand-you-r_1119695.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you have a structure beforehand, you're sort of stuffing your story into a pre-assembled box. You don't…” — Colum McCann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I want the younger writer to know that she or he is meaningful, that what they have to say is powerful in this world. But they can't come indoors, they can't close the curtains, they can't, like, lock themselves away from the world and say nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-she-or-he-is-meaningful-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/colum-mccann-902_curtains_i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-s_1921044.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/colum-mccann-902_curtains_i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-s_1921044.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/colum-mccann-902_curtains_i-want-the-younger-writer-to-know-that-s_1921044.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want the younger writer to know that she or he is meaningful, that what they have to say is powerful in…” — Colum McCann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/colum-mccann/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/colum-mccann/", "name": "Want Quotes by Colum McCann", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/colum-mccann/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cb/colum-mccann-902_american_the-contemporary-american-novelist-benef_2075650.png" }, "description": "10 Want quotes by Colum McCann. 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