--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would seem evident, therefore, that…" description: "\"It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the American short story was the treatment of characteristic American life, with absolute knowledg..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa3/bret-harte-16965_absolutes_it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the_1206901.jpg" --- # It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the… ![“It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the American short story was the treatment of characteristic American life, with absolute knowledge of its peculiarities and sympathy with its method.” quote by Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa3/bret-harte-16965_absolutes_it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the_1206901.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa3/bret-harte-16965_absolutes_it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the_1206901.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa3/bret-harte-16965_absolutes_it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the_1206901.jpg) > “It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the American short story was the treatment of characteristic American life, with absolute knowledge of its peculiarities and sympathy with its method.” [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. American short stories succeed by depicting everyday life with deep understanding and empathy. **In simple terms:** Know and empathize with everyday American life. Key Takeaway Write with authentic detail and compassion. Themes American life short story empathy Mood analytical instructive Type literary educational When to use this quote - teaching - writing workshops - literary criticism Key Concepts cultural specificity narrative technique social observation Questions to Reflect On - How can specific details resonate universally? - What makes a story authentically American? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on specificity may limit universal appeal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Treatment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treatment/) ## Related quotes > [To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/to-the-european-it-is-a-characteristic-of-the-american-culture-that/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Donald Trump has been both a peculiar and characteristic American figure for more than three decades. 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J. Grothe > [Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/every-judgment-teeters-on-the-brink-of-error-to-claim-absolute/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [We could all be mediums, and all have absolute knowledge, if the bright light of our ego consciousness would not dim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-louise-von-franz/we-could-all-be-mediums-and-all-have-absolute-knowledge-if-the-bright/) [Marie-Louise von Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-louise-von-franz/) > [“To know ‘who I am and who I am not’ is called Gnan (Absolute knowledge).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/to-know-who-i-am-and-who-i-am-not-is-called-gnan-absolute-knowledge/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Knowledge is power. And absolute knowledge can corrupt absolutely. I like power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafkat-sakeebur-rahman/knowledge-is-power-and-absolute-knowledge-can-corrupt-absolutely-i/) Shafkat Sakeebur Rahman > [“Complete understanding’ is considered ‘Absolute Vision’ (keval darshan) and when it manifests in one’s conduct, it is considered ‘Absolute Knowledge' (keval gnan). ‘Absolute Vision’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/complete-understanding-is-considered-absolute-vision-keval-darshan/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [There are only a few bits of absolute knowledge in the world, people can learn only one or two fundamental facts about each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-are-only-a-few-bits-of-absolute-knowledge-in-the-world-people/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“Absolute knowledge is an all-inclusive knowledge. If it is to be absolute, it cannot leave anything outside itself, not even error. It includes error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juli-n-mar-as/absolute-knowledge-is-an-all-inclusive-knowledge-if-it-is-to-be/) Julián Marías > [“The prevalence of the application as the Self in the applied awareness as the Self is absolute Knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-prevalence-of-the-application-as-the-self-in-the-applied/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) ## More by Bret Harte > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“Nellie was a good girl, and I think had a sort of quiet respect for old Fagg's unobtrusiveness. But her fancy was already taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/nellie-was-a-good-girl-and-i-think-had-a-sort-of-quiet-respect-for/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Perhaps there is no gift of nature that requires as little exertion on the part of the owner as personal beauty. I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/perhaps-there-is-no-gift-of-nature-that-requires-as-little-exertion/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Howbeit, though no scholar, I am not one of those who misuse the English speech, and, being foolishly led by the hasty custom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/howbeit-though-no-scholar-i-am-not-one-of-those-who-misuse-the/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“Tommy, you're a good little man, but you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again.' He then handed him his money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/tommy-you-re-a-good-little-man-but-you-can-t-gamble-worth-a-cent-don/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“I've had some mighty mean moments afore I kem to this spot,-- Lost on the plains in '50, drowned almost, and shot; But out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/i-ve-had-some-mighty-mean-moments-afore-i-kem-to-this-spot-lost-on/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But, when the goddess' work is done,The woman's still remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/but-when-the-goddess-work-is-done-the-woman-s-still-remains/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [The delicate thought, that cannot find expression, For ruder speech too fair, That, like thy petals, trembles in possession, And scatters on the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/the-delicate-thought-that-cannot-find-expression-for-ruder-speech-too/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“There was, I think, a prevailing impression common to the provincial mind, that his misfortune was the result of the defective moral quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/there-was-i-think-a-prevailing-impression-common-to-the-provincial/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Your voices break and falter in the darkness, Break, falter, and are still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/your-voices-break-and-falter-in-the-darkness-break-falter-and-are/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Each lost day has its patron saint!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/each-lost-day-has-its-patron-saint/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [We begin to die as soon as we are born, and the end is linked to the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/we-begin-to-die-as-soon-as-we-are-born-and-the-end-is-linked-to-the/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [When folks find I ain't afeard to speak my mind on their affairs, they kinder guess I'm tellin' the truth about my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/when-folks-find-i-ain-t-afeard-to-speak-my-mind-on-their-affairs-they/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Never a tear bedims the eye that time and patience will not dry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/never-a-tear-bedims-the-eye-that-time-and-patience-will-not-dry/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But still when the mists of doubt prevail, And we lie becalmed by the shores of age, We hear from the misty troubled shore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/but-still-when-the-mists-of-doubt-prevail-and-we-lie-becalmed-by-the/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) [Explore all 38 Bret Harte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. 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But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. 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