--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I still feel that sincerity and realism…" description: "\"I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out.\" — Edmund White" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png" --- # I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde… ![“I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out.” quote by Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png) > “I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out.” [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sincerity and realism are rare, avant‑garde qualities that can be embraced even in a cynical world. **In simple terms:** Honesty is bold today. Key Takeaway Embrace truth even when unconventional. Themes authenticity realism courage Mood thoughtful encouraging Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - personal relationships - activism Key Concepts literary criticism philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can you stay true while navigating social pressures? - When does realism become cynicism? A Different Perspective Being sincere may invite criticism or alienation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avant garde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [A nice person is like a wind... you never know what's inside their heart but you always feel their sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/a-nice-person-is-like-a-wind-you-never-know-what-s-inside-their-heart/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I think sincerity was my sole aesthetic and realism my experimental technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-think-sincerity-was-my-sole-aesthetic-and-realism-my-experimental/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [I'm sure that a U.S. citizen, if I try to sing in English, he can feel that I'm not really sincere, there is something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stromae/i-m-sure-that-a-u-s-citizen-if-i-try-to-sing-in-english-he-can-feel/) [Stromae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stromae/) > [“West paused. “My God, I can feel sincerity rising in my chest like a digestive disorder. I have to stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/west-paused-my-god-i-can-feel-sincerity-rising-in-my-chest-like-a/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-thompson/after-two-years-in-washington-i-often-long-for-the-realism-and/) [Fred Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-thompson/) > [Avant-garde means never having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ribot/avant-garde-means-never-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Marc Ribot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ribot/) > [“There is nothing more profitable than the extreme avant garde.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/there-is-nothing-more-profitable-than-the-extreme-avant-garde/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) Patrice Pavis > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) C. D. Innes > [Once you got Hollywood doing these kinds of movies and having all the, how you say, the tools to do it, and also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violante-placido/once-you-got-hollywood-doing-these-kinds-of-movies-and-having-all-the/) [Violante Placido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violante-placido/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [I am, it seems, an avant-garde dramatist. It would even seem obvious since I am present here at discussions on the avant-garde theatre. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/i-am-it-seems-an-avant-garde-dramatist-it-would-even-seem-obvious/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [Well, the reason that I teach at Bard is because it's a largely avant-garde program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-reichardt/well-the-reason-that-i-teach-at-bard-is-because-it-s-a-largely-avant/) [Kelly Reichardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-reichardt/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) ## More by Edmund White > [The talk shows in the States want celebrities, not authors. In France, it is different; writers are called upon to comment on everything. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-talk-shows-in-the-states-want-celebrities-not-authors-in-france/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Just like Barack Obama, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and now I am a reluctant groom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/just-like-barack-obama-my-views-on-gay-marriage-have-evolved-and-now/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [In 'A Boy's Own Story' and 'Jack Holmes and His Friend,' my idea was to take someone totally different from my real self and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/in-a-boy-s-own-story-and-jack-holmes-and-his-friend-my-idea-was-to/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Everyone seems agreed that writing about sex is perilous, partly because it threatens to swamp highly individualised characters in a generic, featureless activity (much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/everyone-seems-agreed-that-writing-about-sex-is-perilous-partly/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > ['The Sound of Things Falling' may be a page turner, but it's also a deep meditation on fate and death. Even in translation, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-sound-of-things-falling-may-be-a-page-turner-but-it-s-also-a-deep/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [If you're a beach person or a golfer, Key West is not for you. Most of the sand has been imported, and the water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/if-you-re-a-beach-person-or-a-golfer-key-west-is-not-for-you-most-of/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [First, I was opposed to gay marriage because it seemed like one more way that gays were wanting to assimilate. When I realized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/first-i-was-opposed-to-gay-marriage-because-it-seemed-like-one-more/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [From my mother I learned just how violent and unquenchable a woman's loneliness can be. She had been sheltered excessively by her husband and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/from-my-mother-i-learned-just-how-violent-and-unquenchable-a-woman-s/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [From an early age, I had the idea that writing was truth-telling. It's on the record. Everybody can see it. Maybe it goes back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/from-an-early-age-i-had-the-idea-that-writing-was-truth-telling-it-s/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Since, in the best Southern tradition, I was named Edmund Valentine White III, sometimes when people look up my books on Amazon they find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/since-in-the-best-southern-tradition-i-was-named-edmund-valentine/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [When I was young, I despised old people. I was provincial and narrow-minded. It's the reason I stayed stupid so long. If you only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/when-i-was-young-i-despised-old-people-i-was-provincial-and-narrow/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Key West is the place where your sickly house plant back in New York grows to 10 ft. It's also the place where an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/key-west-is-the-place-where-your-sickly-house-plant-back-in-new-york/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [“In the past, when gays were very flamboyant as drag queens or as leather queens or whatever, that just amused people. And most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/in-the-past-when-gays-were-very-flamboyant-as-drag-queens-or-as/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [When a woman falls in love with me, I feel guilty. I am convinced that it's pure obstinacy that keeps me from reciprocating her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/when-a-woman-falls-in-love-with-me-i-feel-guilty-i-am-convinced-that/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [While writing 'City Boy,' I relied mainly on my own memories. In particular, I was able to describe the effect of gay liberation on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/while-writing-city-boy-i-relied-mainly-on-my-own-memories-in/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) [Explore all 166 Edmund White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) ## More Avant garde quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [Well, the reason that I teach at Bard is because it's a largely avant-garde program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-reichardt/well-the-reason-that-i-teach-at-bard-is-because-it-s-a-largely-avant/) [Kelly Reichardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-reichardt/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [I am, it seems, an avant-garde dramatist. It would even seem obvious since I am present here at discussions on the avant-garde theatre. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/i-am-it-seems-an-avant-garde-dramatist-it-would-even-seem-obvious/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Once you got Hollywood doing these kinds of movies and having all the, how you say, the tools to do it, and also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violante-placido/once-you-got-hollywood-doing-these-kinds-of-movies-and-having-all-the/) [Violante Placido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violante-placido/) > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) C. D. Innes > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) Patrice Pavis > [“There is nothing more profitable than the extreme avant garde.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/there-is-nothing-more-profitable-than-the-extreme-avant-garde/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [Avant-garde means never having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ribot/avant-garde-means-never-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Marc Ribot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ribot/) > [“My avant garde planters complete, they now yearned to be occupied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-puchalski/my-avant-garde-planters-complete-they-now-yearned-to-be-occupied/) Matt Puchalski > [Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it’s not the way. We must find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-ligeti/now-there-is-no-taboo-everything-is-allowed-but-one-cannot-simply-go/) [Gyorgy Ligeti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-ligeti/) > [In an avant-garde cooking restaurant, it's the experience that's the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/in-an-avant-garde-cooking-restaurant-it-s-the-experience-that-s-the/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [The avant-garde poet or artist tries in effect to imitate God by creating something valid solely on its own terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-avant-garde-poet-or-artist-tries-in-effect-to-imitate-god-by/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [I like African and avant-garde music, anything that's vaguely interesting. Hard rock I get a bit bored with because it's what I do. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-glover/i-like-african-and-avant-garde-music-anything-that-s-vaguely/) [Roger Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-glover/) [Browse all 202 Avant garde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edmund White" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism-are-avant-garde-or-can-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avant garde" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism-are-avant-garde-or-can-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/edmund-white-2376_avant-garde_i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism_575826.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out.” — Edmund White", "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": "Edmund White", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I still feel that sincerity and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism-are-avant-garde-or-can-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/i-still-feel-that-sincerity-and-realism-are-avant-garde-or-can-be/#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 } } ] } ```