--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only thing that's really important is…" description: "\"The only thing that's really important is the stuff he wrote. That's what he cared about, and that's what's worth protecting. The myth and the man time..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/jack-hemingway-15377_man_the-only-thing-that-s-really-important-i_2953735.jpg" --- # The only thing that's really important is the stuff he… ![“The only thing that's really important is the stuff he wrote. That's what he cared about, and that's what's worth protecting. The myth and the man time eventually separates. But the work endures.” quote by Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/jack-hemingway-15377_man_the-only-thing-that-s-really-important-i_2953735.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/jack-hemingway-15377_man_the-only-thing-that-s-really-important-i_2953735.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/jack-hemingway-15377_man_the-only-thing-that-s-really-important-i_2953735.jpg) > “The only thing that's really important is the stuff he wrote. That's what he cared about, and that's what's worth protecting. The myth and the man time eventually separates. But the work endures.” [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The lasting value lies in a person's work, not their myth or persona. **In simple terms:** Work endures beyond fame. Key Takeaway Focus on creating lasting work. Themes legacy authorship truth Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career - writing - historical analysis Key Concepts philosophy literature Questions to Reflect On - What work of yours will outlive you? - How do you separate myth from truth? A Different Perspective Myths can distract from substance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth/) ## Related quotes > [If you look at someone like Joe Strummer or John Lennon, when you heard their music you knew that they wrote it and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/if-you-look-at-someone-like-joe-strummer-or-john-lennon-when-you/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [It's good to try stuff. I wrote a book that I threw away, and I think I just wrote it so I could try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/it-s-good-to-try-stuff-i-wrote-a-book-that-i-threw-away-and-i-think-i/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [And all of Laura's stuff, what they wrote originally wasn't as good and Constance wound up doing that herself. That was all her stuff,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-devane/and-all-of-laura-s-stuff-what-they-wrote-originally-wasn-t-as-good/) [William Devane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-devane/) > [I like the songwriting. I don't ever listen and then go back and change stuff. For me when I wrote the song, it's always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-owens/i-like-the-songwriting-i-don-t-ever-listen-and-then-go-back-and/) [Christopher Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-owens/) > [I think I got serious about writing in the late '90s. The first stuff I wrote was terrible and got rejected, but I started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-g-tremblay/i-think-i-got-serious-about-writing-in-the-late-90s-the-first-stuff-i/) [Paul G. Tremblay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-g-tremblay/) > [I wrote for magazines. I wrote adventure stuff, I wrote for the 'National Enquirer,' I wrote advertising copy for cemeteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/i-wrote-for-magazines-i-wrote-adventure-stuff-i-wrote-for-the/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [The important stuff won't happen, just do things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-important-stuff-won-t-happen-just-do-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It was so important to have stuff outside of rugby so you have a life balance. I took a lot of criticism for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haskell/it-was-so-important-to-have-stuff-outside-of-rugby-so-you-have-a-life/) [James Haskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haskell/) > [BEST FRIEND-the one you can get mad at only for a short period because you have important stuff to tell them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reema-chandnani/best-friend-the-one-you-can-get-mad-at-only-for-a-short-period/) [Reema Chandnani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reema-chandnani/) > [Fun is the most important. If you do stuff for money, it never works out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ina-garten/fun-is-the-most-important-if-you-do-stuff-for-money-it-never-works-out/) [Ina Garten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ina-garten/) > [“The stuff you do is way more important than the stuff you believe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-skovron/the-stuff-you-do-is-way-more-important-than-the-stuff-you-believe/) [Jon Skovron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-skovron/) > [If you are a kid, reading is really important stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jenner/if-you-are-a-kid-reading-is-really-important-stuff/) [Bruce Jenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jenner/) > [The one you can get mad at only for a short period because you have important stuff to tell them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-one-you-can-get-mad-at-only-for-a-short-period-because-you-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Why is it that the most important stuff to listen to is almost always the stuff we don't want to hear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-grothe/why-is-it-that-the-most-important-stuff-to-listen-to-is-almost-always/) [Mardy Grothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-grothe/) > [There really isn't any limit to the number of people who want a piece of you, and it's all important stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-j-carty/there-really-isn-t-any-limit-to-the-number-of-people-who-want-a-piece/) Donald J. Carty ## More by Jack Hemingway > [I'm not a furniture person. You sit on the stuff, sleep on it, make love on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/i-m-not-a-furniture-person-you-sit-on-the-stuff-sleep-on-it-make-love/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [People ask me what I do, and I tell them, 'I'm a fisherman and a hunter.' They look at me like I'm lazy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/people-ask-me-what-i-do-and-i-tell-them-i-m-a-fisherman-and-a-hunter/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [I know he wanted me to love fishing and hunting, and I believe that he deliberately set about to make me want to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/i-know-he-wanted-me-to-love-fishing-and-hunting-and-i-believe-that-he/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [At the time of his death and the few years before, I was just starting to pull myself together and make a reasonably good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/at-the-time-of-his-death-and-the-few-years-before-i-was-just-starting/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [He's never portrayed as being funny. He was a very funny, happy, lively person. Fun to be around and exciting. He was my hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/he-s-never-portrayed-as-being-funny-he-was-a-very-funny-happy-lively/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [My mother, along with Papa's other eventual wives - Pauline, Marty Gelhorn, Mary Welch - they all, at one time or another, no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/my-mother-along-with-papa-s-other-eventual-wives-pauline-marty/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [It's hard to think of your parents as lovers. You know you got here somehow, but it's hard to visualize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/it-s-hard-to-think-of-your-parents-as-lovers-you-know-you-got-here/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [I wanted to write a book about Hemingway's Paris, but a professor beat me to it. I suddenly realized other people were making a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/i-wanted-to-write-a-book-about-hemingway-s-paris-but-a-professor-beat/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [I was proud of Papa for his sports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/i-was-proud-of-papa-for-his-sports/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [He was a physically imposing presence - 6 feet tall and very broad in the shoulders - and an imposing intellectual presence as well.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/he-was-a-physically-imposing-presence-6-feet-tall-and-very-broad-in/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [My father had two personas: first, literary, and second, the way he lived. I've been brought up with all of this, but many other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/my-father-had-two-personas-first-literary-and-second-the-way-he-lived/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [Frankly I never seriously read my father's books until after he died. Up to then, there had been no point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/frankly-i-never-seriously-read-my-father-s-books-until-after-he-died/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [You might have to go through some smaller rainbows to get at the big fish, but they're in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/you-might-have-to-go-through-some-smaller-rainbows-to-get-at-the-big/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [Food has always been a thing in our family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/food-has-always-been-a-thing-in-our-family/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [We were out drinking and fishing one day, and somebody said to me, 'People are starting to make money off your name. You and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/we-were-out-drinking-and-fishing-one-day-and-somebody-said-to-me/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) [Explore all 43 Jack Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) ## More Man quotes > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Troy was a sweet, good man. We just were never destined to be married. We just didn't have the same values. But I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-pleshette/troy-was-a-sweet-good-man-we-just-were-never-destined-to-be-married/) [Suzanne Pleshette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-pleshette/) > [“A man who saw has turned blind, A hearer deaf, A leader now leads astray!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-lichtheim/a-man-who-saw-has-turned-blind-a-hearer-deaf-a-leader-now-leads-astray/) [Miriam Lichtheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-lichtheim/) > [I'm more comfortable modelling as a man because I don't get any criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain-dove/i-m-more-comfortable-modelling-as-a-man-because-i-don-t-get-any/) [Rain Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain-dove/) > [If you're in a meeting and a man talks loudly over you, rather than copying that behaviour and normalising it, what you could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-foster/if-you-re-in-a-meeting-and-a-man-talks-loudly-over-you-rather-than/) [Dawn Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-foster/) > [Man United has always had a unique aura about it, and when you watch them play everyone knows it's something special.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-glazer/man-united-has-always-had-a-unique-aura-about-it-and-when-you-watch/) [Joel Glazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-glazer/) > [I came to Hollywood to be a movie song-and-dance man just at the time those films were going out of style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-berry/i-came-to-hollywood-to-be-a-movie-song-and-dance-man-just-at-the-time/) [Ken Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-berry/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [I really think there's no difference between an art piece made by a man and one made by a woman. Is it a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/i-really-think-there-s-no-difference-between-an-art-piece-made-by-a/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [“Well, God be with you,’ she said as she finally left him. ’I’m sure He is,’ he replied. She gave a start. ’Are you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knut-hamsun/well-god-be-with-you-she-said-as-she-finally-left-him-i-m-sure-he-is/) [Knut Hamsun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knut-hamsun/) > [“A man's life is about keeping rules, breaking them, and making new ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/a-man-s-life-is-about-keeping-rules-breaking-them-and-making-new-ones/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Elvis was sincere, and he was - he was so loyal. And he was so homespun. He loved his mother, he loved America. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-thompson/elvis-was-sincere-and-he-was-he-was-so-loyal-and-he-was-so-homespun/) [Linda Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-thompson/) > [I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood and was raised by a man who did not emote, ever... I always cry at movies, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/i-grew-up-in-a-blue-collar-neighborhood-and-was-raised-by-a-man-who/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) [Browse all 10,452 Man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only thing that's really important is the stuff he wrote. That's what he cared about, and that's what's worth protecting. The myth and the man time eventually separates. 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