--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have noticed that in books this sort of…" description: "\"“I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never seems to occur; the authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/gene-wolfe-2530_books_i-have-noticed-that-in-books-this-sort-o_621190.jpg" --- # I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never… ![“I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never seems to occur; the authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden they may be, advancing like market carts with squeaking wheels that are never still, though they go only to dusty villages where the charm of the…” quote by Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/gene-wolfe-2530_books_i-have-noticed-that-in-books-this-sort-o_621190.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/gene-wolfe-2530_books_i-have-noticed-that-in-books-this-sort-o_621190.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/gene-wolfe-2530_books_i-have-noticed-that-in-books-this-sort-o_621190.jpg) > ““I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never seems to occur; the authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden they may be, advancing like market carts with squeaking wheels that are never still, though they go only to dusty villages where the charm of the country is lost and the pleasures of the city will never be found) that there are no such misunderstandings, no refusals to negotiate. The assassin who holds a dagger to his victim's neck is eager to discuss the whole matter, and at any length the victim or the author may wish.”” [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Storytelling often forces conflict and resolution, avoiding true stalemate; even antagonists may engage in dialogue when needed. **In simple terms:** Stories push forward, rarely allowing deadlock. Key Takeaway Embrace dialogue to resolve conflict. Themes conflict dialogue storytelling resolution character Mood thoughtful analytical Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - creative writing - conflict resolution - character development Key Concepts narrative tension power dynamics communication Questions to Reflect On - How can you create space for dialogue in a tense situation? - What prevents true stalemate in storytelling? A Different Perspective Real life negotiations can stall without open communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assassin Holds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassin-holds-5025268/) [Authors Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authors-anxious-5025266/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Negotiate Assassin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negotiate-assassin-5025265/) [Stalemate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalemate/) [Stalemate Occur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalemate-occur-5025267/) ## Related quotes > [Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/marriage-in-my-view-should-be-a-balanced-stalemate-between-equal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Could Afghanistan become another Vietnam? Is the United States facing another stalemate on the other side of the world? Premature the questions may be,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-w-apple/could-afghanistan-become-another-vietnam-is-the-united-states-facing/) [R. W. Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-w-apple/) > [The draw by stalemate looks like a spot of discontinuity in the otherwise harmonious universe of values. To save a game by letting yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihail-marin/the-draw-by-stalemate-looks-like-a-spot-of-discontinuity-in-the/) [Mihail Marin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihail-marin/) > [To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/to-say-that-we-are-closer-to-victory-today-is-to-believe-in-the-face-2/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [Truman left in the middle of an unpopular war, a war of choice. Truman didn't have to go into South Korea. And he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/truman-left-in-the-middle-of-an-unpopular-war-a-war-of-choice-truman/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/to-say-that-we-are-closer-to-victory-today-is-to-believe-in-the-face/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/it-seems-now-more-certain-than-ever-that-the-bloody-experience-of/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/veneration-of-mark-twain-is-one-of-the-roots-of-our-current/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [Man the sum of what have you. A problem in impure properties carried tediously to an unvarying nil: stalemate of dust and desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/man-the-sum-of-what-have-you-a-problem-in-impure-properties-carried/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [It takes a vice to check a vice, and virtue is the by-product of a stalemate between opposite vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-takes-a-vice-to-check-a-vice-and-virtue-is-the-by-product-of-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“Some people who have been working out regularly for months or even years are still out of shape because the number of cheat days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-who-have-been-working-out-regularly-for-months-or-even/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [At the same time, old confrontations have taken on frightening urgency, especially the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir and the violent stalemate in the Middle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/at-the-same-time-old-confrontations-have-taken-on-frightening-urgency/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Finally Doug broke the stalemate and looked at Megan. "Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically. Then he yanked off his plastic gloves, tossed them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-brian/finally-doug-broke-the-stalemate-and-looked-at-megan-thanks-a-lot-he/) [Kate Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-brian/) > [“It was a stalemate Silas was willing to live with, and apparently, so was his mother. They both knew it wasn’t about the hem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-berk/it-was-a-stalemate-silas-was-willing-to-live-with-and-apparently-so/) [Ari Berk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-berk/) > [“She had known for months now that something or someone would have to break to end this painful stalemate they were locked in. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-andersen/she-had-known-for-months-now-that-something-or-someone-would-have-to/) [Laura Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-andersen/) ## More by Gene Wolfe > [Some writers say they cannot write in front of a window; many say they cannot function without almost perfect quiet. A writer with only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/some-writers-say-they-cannot-write-in-front-of-a-window-many-say-they/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Sometimes driven aground by the photon storms, by the swirling of the galaxies, clockwise and counterclockwise, ticking with light down the dark sea-corridors lined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/sometimes-driven-aground-by-the-photon-storms-by-the-swirling-of-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“There are beings—and artifacts—against which we batter our intelligence raw, and in the end make peace with reality only by saying, “It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-are-beings-and-artifacts-against-which-we-batter-our/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Science has so accustomed us to devising and accepting theories to account for the facts we observe, however fantastic, that our minds must begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/science-has-so-accustomed-us-to-devising-and-accepting-theories-to/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“The experienced feel love or desire, or both. The inexperienced are sick with a thousand feelings, most of them unformed: fearful that they may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-experienced-feel-love-or-desire-or-both-the-inexperienced-are/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“For those who have never attended a science fiction convention, masquerades are features of most of the larger ones. Awards are presented for best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/for-those-who-have-never-attended-a-science-fiction-convention/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“He had a wild yellow beard and long, tangled hair that stood out from his head in a way that made it seem too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/he-had-a-wild-yellow-beard-and-long-tangled-hair-that-stood-out-from/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [ ...in some situations winning consist\[s\] of disentangling oneself. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/in-some-situations-winning-consist-s-of-disentangling-oneself/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“For after all, if the lives of most men are examined in detail, it will be found that they have been experts of immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/for-after-all-if-the-lives-of-most-men-are-examined-in-detail-it-will/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/you-never-learn-how-to-write-a-novel-you-just-learn-how-to-write-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [There is no magic. There is only knowledge, more or less hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-is-no-magic-there-is-only-knowledge-more-or-less-hidden/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“...the progress of science depends much less upon either theoretical considerations or systematic investigation than is commonly believed, but rather on the transmittal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-progress-of-science-depends-much-less-upon-either-theoretical/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Whatever we may say, all of us suffer from disturbed sleep at times. Some in truth hardly sleep, though some who sleep copiously swear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/whatever-we-may-say-all-of-us-suffer-from-disturbed-sleep-at-times/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“. . .Consciousness came and went. Consciousness went and came like the errant winds of spring, and I, who so often have had difficulty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/consciousness-came-and-went-consciousness-went-and-came-like-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) [Explore all 160 Gene Wolfe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never seems to occur; the authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden they may be, advancing like market carts with squeaking wheels that are never still, though they go only to dusty villages where the charm of the country is lost and the pleasures of the city will never be found) that there are no such misunderstandings, no refusals to negotiate. 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