--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wanted nothing less than to be a…" description: "\"I wanted nothing less than to be a fiction writer when I was a kid. If you had told me I would be an artist or novelist when I grew up, I would have la..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/caleb-carr-16005_art_i-wanted-nothing-less-than-to-be-a-ficti_232092.jpg" --- # I wanted nothing less than to be a fiction writer when I… ![“I wanted nothing less than to be a fiction writer when I was a kid. If you had told me I would be an artist or novelist when I grew up, I would have laughed in your face” quote by Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/caleb-carr-16005_art_i-wanted-nothing-less-than-to-be-a-ficti_232092.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/caleb-carr-16005_art_i-wanted-nothing-less-than-to-be-a-ficti_232092.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/caleb-carr-16005_art_i-wanted-nothing-less-than-to-be-a-ficti_232092.jpg) > “I wanted nothing less than to be a fiction writer when I was a kid. If you had told me I would be an artist or novelist when I grew up, I would have laughed in your face” [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Childhood dreams can drive lifelong creative ambition. **In simple terms:** Dreams shape career paths. Key Takeaway Pursue your creative calling. Themes ambition creativity career development Mood inspirational reflective Type motivational career When to use this quote - writing workshops - career planning - personal storytelling Key Concepts self‑actualization narrative identity Questions to Reflect On - What childhood dream still inspires you? - How do you balance practicality and art? A Different Perspective External expectations may clash with passion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-writer/) [Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew/) [Grew up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew-up/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Laughed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughed/) [Laughed Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughed-face-815282/) [Novelist Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist-grew-2346558/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) [Writer Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-kid-2346557/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Your face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-face/) ## Related quotes > [You were joking about the whole please and thank you thing, right?" 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His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [My only obligation as a fiction writer is to the story, to make it good, so good the busy reader doesn't feel that flipping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-pietrzyk/my-only-obligation-as-a-fiction-writer-is-to-the-story-to-make-it/) [Leslie Pietrzyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-pietrzyk/) ## More by Caleb Carr > [“It is often difficult, I find, for people today to grasp the notion that one family, working through several restaurants could change the eating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/it-is-often-difficult-i-find-for-people-today-to-grasp-the-notion/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [“I'd seen this happen several times before, in different institutions, but it was no less remarkable on each occasion: the words were like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/i-d-seen-this-happen-several-times-before-in-different-institutions/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [“but none of whom gave the impression of being willing to put up with questionable behavior from anyone else ever again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/but-none-of-whom-gave-the-impression-of-being-willing-to-put-up-with/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [It didn’t make any more sense to me then than it does now, how life can pile troubles up on a man what don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/it-didn-t-make-any-more-sense-to-me-then-than-it-does-now-how-life/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [“P252 Habit dooms us all to fight out the battle of life upon the lines of our nurture or our early choice, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/p252-habit-dooms-us-all-to-fight-out-the-battle-of-life-upon-the/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [People are disturbed enough by serial killers, but the whole notion of female violence, particularly maternal violence - the idea of mothers who kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/people-are-disturbed-enough-by-serial-killers-but-the-whole-notion-of/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [Every human being must find his own way to cope with severe loss, and the only job of a true friend is to facilitate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/every-human-being-must-find-his-own-way-to-cope-with-severe-loss-and/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [The defenders of decent society and the disciples of degeneracy are often the same people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/the-defenders-of-decent-society-and-the-disciples-of-degeneracy-are/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [People would rather be deceived than have the truth cause them anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/people-would-rather-be-deceived-than-have-the-truth-cause-them-anxiety/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [It is the greatest truth of our age: Information is not knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/it-is-the-greatest-truth-of-our-age-information-is-not-knowledge/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [I'm still a firm believer that we were definitely put here to use our minds, and that is what makes us different. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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