--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only thing that matters, as Faulkner…" description: "\"“The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is the human heart in conflict with itself.”\" — Colum McCann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png" --- # The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is… ![“The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is the human heart in conflict with itself.” quote by Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png) > ““The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is the human heart in conflict with itself.”” [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The core conflict lies within the human heart, where internal struggles define our experience. **In simple terms:** Human heart in conflict with itself is the main issue. Key Takeaway Explore and reconcile inner conflicts. Themes psychology conflict human nature introspection literature Mood introspective empathetic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - personal growth - philosophical debate Key Concepts inner turmoil self‑reflection emotional struggle Questions to Reflect On - What triggers inner conflict? - How can we achieve inner peace? A Different Perspective External factors also shape us. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-heart/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Stories are there to be told, and each story changes with the telling. Time changes them. Logic changes them. Grammar changes them. History changes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/stories-are-there-to-be-told-and-each-story-changes-with-the-telling/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-only-thing-worth-writing-about-is-the-human-heart-in-conflict/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-problems-of-the-human-heart-in-conflict-with-itself-which-alone/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“My father was a stand–up man who, unfortunately, did not have anything to stand up for. An eternal conflict burned in his heart, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-martin/my-father-was-a-stand-up-man-who-unfortunately-did-not-have-anything/) [Henry Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-martin/) > [ “\[T\]he young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/t-he-young-man-or-woman-writing-today-has-forgotten-the-problems-of/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [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/) > [I don't want to turn 50 and say, 'Gosh, I wish I'd lived in that part of the world for a time. I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-trotter/i-don-t-want-to-turn-50-and-say-gosh-i-wish-i-d-lived-in-that-part-of/) [Charlie Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-trotter/) > [“How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. —William Faulkner”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nic-pizzolatto/how-often-have-i-lain-beneath-rain-on-a-strange-roof-thinking-of-home/) [Nic Pizzolatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nic-pizzolatto/) > [I'd have liked to have been another Faulkner, of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-paulson/i-d-have-liked-to-have-been-another-faulkner-of-course/) [Henry Paulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-paulson/) > [Faulkner was almost oriental. I never got into Faulkner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-t-hall/faulkner-was-almost-oriental-i-never-got-into-faulkner/) [Tom T. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-t-hall/) > [I was writing novels in high school and apprenticed myself in a way both to Faulkner and to Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-was-writing-novels-in-high-school-and-apprenticed-myself-in-a-way/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“I knew Faulkner very well. He was a great friend of mine. Well, as much as you could be a friend of his, unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/i-knew-faulkner-very-well-he-was-a-great-friend-of-mine-well-as-much/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [“I am not religious, I reckon. But peace is in my heart: I know it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/i-am-not-religious-i-reckon-but-peace-is-in-my-heart-i-know-it-is/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Faulkner is a writer who has had much to do with my soul, but Hemingway is the one who had the most to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/faulkner-is-a-writer-who-has-had-much-to-do-with-my-soul-but/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“Do you read them? Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald?" "Only if I have to. I try to avoid old dead white men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/do-you-read-them-faulkner-hemingway-fitzgerald-only-if-i-have-to-i/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) ## 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/) [Explore all 333 Colum McCann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## More Faulkner quotes > [“Do you read them? Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald?" "Only if I have to. I try to avoid old dead white men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/do-you-read-them-faulkner-hemingway-fitzgerald-only-if-i-have-to-i/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [I don't want to turn 50 and say, 'Gosh, I wish I'd lived in that part of the world for a time. I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-trotter/i-don-t-want-to-turn-50-and-say-gosh-i-wish-i-d-lived-in-that-part-of/) [Charlie Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-trotter/) > [I was writing novels in high school and apprenticed myself in a way both to Faulkner and to Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-was-writing-novels-in-high-school-and-apprenticed-myself-in-a-way/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [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/) > [Faulkner is a writer who has had much to do with my soul, but Hemingway is the one who had the most to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/faulkner-is-a-writer-who-has-had-much-to-do-with-my-soul-but/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“I am not religious, I reckon. But peace is in my heart: I know it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/i-am-not-religious-i-reckon-but-peace-is-in-my-heart-i-know-it-is/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“I knew Faulkner very well. He was a great friend of mine. Well, as much as you could be a friend of his, unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/i-knew-faulkner-very-well-he-was-a-great-friend-of-mine-well-as-much/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [Faulkner was almost oriental. I never got into Faulkner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-t-hall/faulkner-was-almost-oriental-i-never-got-into-faulkner/) [Tom T. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-t-hall/) > [I'd have liked to have been another Faulkner, of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-paulson/i-d-have-liked-to-have-been-another-faulkner-of-course/) [Henry Paulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-paulson/) > [“How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. —William Faulkner”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nic-pizzolatto/how-often-have-i-lain-beneath-rain-on-a-strange-roof-thinking-of-home/) [Nic Pizzolatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nic-pizzolatto/) > [Faulkner speaks to us on the questions of race, the challenges of modernity, and modern man's dilemma in all of its aspects. That he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-milch/faulkner-speaks-to-us-on-the-questions-of-race-the-challenges-of/) [David Milch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-milch/) > [Faulkner turned out to be a great teacher. When a student asked a question ineptly, he answered the question with what the student had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/faulkner-turned-out-to-be-a-great-teacher-when-a-student-asked-a/) [Leslie Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-fiedler/) > [Faulkner came from my region and taught me how you could write about a place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-rash/faulkner-came-from-my-region-and-taught-me-how-you-could-write-about/) [Ron Rash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-rash/) > [Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' had an immense effect on me, and most of my novels bear the burn marks of this experience, those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/faulkner-s-as-i-lay-dying-had-an-immense-effect-on-me-and-most-of-my/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [A favorite science fiction writer of mine is William Faulkner! It was an idea that came to me once, years ago, and I've never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/a-favorite-science-fiction-writer-of-mine-is-william-faulkner-it-was/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) Browse all 66 Faulkner quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is the human heart in conflict with itself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner-once-put-it-is-the-human/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Faulkner" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner-once-put-it-is-the-human/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/colum-mccann-902_faulkner_the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner_138590.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only thing that matters, as Faulkner once put it, is the human heart in conflict with itself.” — Colum McCann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Colum McCann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The only thing that matters, as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner-once-put-it-is-the-human/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-only-thing-that-matters-as-faulkner-once-put-it-is-the-human/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```