--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One never knows enough about characters…" description: "\"One never knows enough about characters in real life to put them into novels. One gets started and then, suddenly, one can not remember what toothpaste..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/graham-greene-441_books_one-never-knows-enough-about-characters_2062885.jpg" --- # One never knows enough about characters in real life to… ![“One never knows enough about characters in real life to put them into novels. One gets started and then, suddenly, one can not remember what toothpaste they use; what are their views on interior decoration, and one is stuck utterly. No, major characters emerge; minor ones may be photographed.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/graham-greene-441_books_one-never-knows-enough-about-characters_2062885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/graham-greene-441_books_one-never-knows-enough-about-characters_2062885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/graham-greene-441_books_one-never-knows-enough-about-characters_2062885.jpg) > “One never knows enough about characters in real life to put them into novels. One gets started and then, suddenly, one can not remember what toothpaste they use; what are their views on interior decoration, and one is stuck utterly. No, major characters emerge; minor ones may be photographed.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing fiction requires deep, consistent knowledge of characters; otherwise details slip and stories stall. **In simple terms:** Characters need thorough understanding to stay vivid. Key Takeaway Research and track character traits continuously. Themes character development memory detail Mood frustrated reflective Type advice process When to use this quote - novel writing - screenplay drafting - character interviews Key Concepts psychology storytelling consistency Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep character details organized? - What methods help maintain character continuity? A Different Perspective Even with research, real life complexity can overwhelm writers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Can not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-not/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters/) [Characters Emerge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters-emerge-1196379/) [Decoration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decoration/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Interiors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interiors/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-characters-3944260/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-novels-746452/) [Major Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/major-characters-3944259/) [Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majors/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Minors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minors/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Stuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuck/) [Toothpaste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toothpaste/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Most of Ayn Rand's major characters are already formed at the start of the stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-britting/most-of-ayn-rand-s-major-characters-are-already-formed-at-the-start/) [Jeff Britting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-britting/) > [Suspense is achieved by information control: What you know. What the reader knows. What the characters know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/suspense-is-achieved-by-information-control-what-you-know-what-the/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [“Sometimes it takes the story to grow, for the real characters to emerge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kaye/sometimes-it-takes-the-story-to-grow-for-the-real-characters-to-emerge/) [Daniel Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kaye/) > [The characters emerge from my rather twisted mind. That's another enjoyable part of the job making stuff up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kellerman/the-characters-emerge-from-my-rather-twisted-mind-that-s-another/) [Jonathan Kellerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kellerman/) > [I do not share the pessimism of the age about the novel. They are one of our greatest spiritual, aesthetic and intellectual inventions. 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But I - it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-ve-got-a-grocery-bill-at-the-end-of-every-month-our-toothpaste-our/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Communists all seem to wear small caps, a look I consider better suited to tubes of toothpaste than to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/communists-all-seem-to-wear-small-caps-a-look-i-consider-better/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Inflation is like toothpaste. Once it's out, you can hardly get it back in again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-otto-pohl/inflation-is-like-toothpaste-once-it-s-out-you-can-hardly-get-it-back/) [Karl Otto Pohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-otto-pohl/) > [Posing the question: does the god of love use underarm deodorant, vaginal spray and fluoride toothpaste?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/posing-the-question-does-the-god-of-love-use-underarm-deodorant/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## 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. 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