--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am a dash man and not a miler, and it…" description: "\"“I am a dash man and not a miler, and it is probable that I will never write a novel. So far the novels of this war have had too much of the strength, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/j-d-salinger-560_books_i-am-a-dash-man-and-not-a-miler-and-it-i_1890102.png" --- # I am a dash man and not a miler, and it is probable that I… ![“I am a dash man and not a miler, and it is probable that I will never write a novel. So far the novels of this war have had too much of the strength, maturity and craftsmanship critics are looking for, and too little of the glorious imperfections which teeter and fall off the best minds. The men…” quote by J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/j-d-salinger-560_books_i-am-a-dash-man-and-not-a-miler-and-it-i_1890102.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/j-d-salinger-560_books_i-am-a-dash-man-and-not-a-miler-and-it-i_1890102.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/j-d-salinger-560_books_i-am-a-dash-man-and-not-a-miler-and-it-i_1890102.png) > ““I am a dash man and not a miler, and it is probable that I will never write a novel. So far the novels of this war have had too much of the strength, maturity and craftsmanship critics are looking for, and too little of the glorious imperfections which teeter and fall off the best minds. The men who have been in this war deserve some sort of trembling melody rendered without embarrassment or regret. I’ll watch for that book.”” [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer doubts his ability to capture war’s raw truth, fearing perfection will erase authentic flaws. **In simple terms:** Perfection can hide truth. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfection. Themes war literature authenticity self‑doubt craftsmanship Mood introspective critical Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - war memoirs - editing workshops - personal reflection Key Concepts narrative honesty human frailty literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance craft with raw honesty? - What role do imperfections play in storytelling? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on flawlessness may stifle emotional resonance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dash/) [Dash Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dash-man-2724263/) [Imperfections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperfections/) [Man Miler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-miler-2724264/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-war-2724262/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Deserve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-deserve-1192030/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Wwii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wwii/) ## Related quotes > [“At the front, people die for their mistakes. Why should politicians be more gently treated? They made the war. 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And Officers who intrude for them deserve to be hung!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stonewall-jackson/sir-men-who-desert-their-comrades-in-war-deserve-to-be-shot-and/) [Stonewall Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stonewall-jackson/) > [“I've always said that you know you're a poet when you type an em dash and you hit the delete button, and you type…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jericho-brown/i-ve-always-said-that-you-know-you-re-a-poet-when-you-type-an-em-dash/) [Jericho Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jericho-brown/) > [Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', as historical fiction about history that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/over-the-years-more-than-one-reviewer-has-described-my-fantasy-series/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [“A department store two days before Christmas Eve is like a city in a state of siege…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/a-department-store-two-days-before-christmas-eve-is-like-a-city-in-a/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) > [“This is the Best Dash Cam”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dash-cam/this-is-the-best-dash-cam/) [Dash Cam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dash-cam/) > [She was fine like a ticket on the dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/she-was-fine-like-a-ticket-on-the-dash/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [I was a very close friend of Dash Snow's, so whenever I get a chance to revisit his work, that's always amazing for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-fitzpatrick/i-was-a-very-close-friend-of-dash-snow-s-so-whenever-i-get-a-chance/) [Leo Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-fitzpatrick/) > [5 star nigga, 2 mill on the dash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/birdman/5-star-nigga-2-mill-on-the-dash/) [Birdman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/birdman/) > [“You see, Dash. I was never the girl in your head. And you were never the boy in my head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-see-dash-i-was-never-the-girl-in-your-head-and-you-were-never-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Dash is for sure straight!" Boomer announced. "He has a super-pretty ex-girlfriend named Sofia, who I think he still has a thing for, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/dash-is-for-sure-straight-boomer-announced-he-has-a-super-pretty-ex/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Peel off in a Lamborghini Countach. 200 in the dash we gonna rev it, skirt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z-2/peel-off-in-a-lamborghini-countach-200-in-the-dash-we-gonna-rev-it/) [Jay Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z-2/) > [It (the dash ) is a comfortable punctuation mark since even the most rigorous critic can seldom claim that any particular example of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bergen-evans/it-the-dash-is-a-comfortable-punctuation-mark-since-even-the-most/) [Bergen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bergen-evans/) ## More by J.D. Salinger > [“I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all… I'm standing on the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-keep-picturing-all-these-little-kids-playing-some-game-in-this-big/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“If you're a poet, you do something beautiful. I mean you're supposed to leave something beautiful after you get off the page and everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/if-you-re-a-poet-you-do-something-beautiful-i-mean-you-re-supposed-to/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was… The only thing that would be different would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-best-thing-though-in-that-museum-was-that-everything-always/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“And you make people nervous, young man," she said - most equably, for her. "You either take to somebody or you don't. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-you-make-people-nervous-young-man-she-said-most-equably-for-her/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“I still think that, in a way, I can't get past half my childhood dogmas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-still-think-that-in-a-way-i-can-t-get-past-half-my-childhood-dogmas/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“He stuck around till around dinnertime, talking about all the guys at Pencey that he hated their guts, and squeezing this big pimple on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/he-stuck-around-till-around-dinnertime-talking-about-all-the-guys-at/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“For example, when Seymour told one of the twins or Zooey or Franny or even Mme. Boo Boo (who was only two years younger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/for-example-when-seymour-told-one-of-the-twins-or-zooey-or-franny-or/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“One thing? One thing I like? Okay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/one-thing-one-thing-i-like-okay/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“The cigars are ballast, sweetheart. Sheer ballast. If he didn’t have a cigar to hold on to, his feet would leave the ground. We’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-cigars-are-ballast-sweetheart-sheer-ballast-if-he-didn-t-have-a/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/they-re-just-people-that-write-poems-that-get-published-and/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“In certain Zen monasteries, it's a cardinal rule, if not the only serious enforced discipline, that when one monk calls out 'Hi!' to another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/in-certain-zen-monasteries-it-s-a-cardinal-rule-if-not-the-only/) [j.d. salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“And I hate to tell you... but I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-i-hate-to-tell-you-but-i-think-that-once-you-have-a-fair-idea/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“Hi,' he said. He always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired. He didn't want you to think he was visiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/hi-he-said-he-always-said-it-like-he-was-terrifically-bored-or/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [ “\[Y\]ou’re someone who took up birds in the first place because they fired your imagination; they fascinated you because ‘they seemed of all created… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/y-ou-re-someone-who-took-up-birds-in-the-first-place-because-they/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) [Explore all 416 J.D. Salinger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) ## 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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