--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a young man, he was already rather…" description: "\"“As a young man, he was already rather pompous and full of himself, concerned with what he would write and with his early (and, later, perennial) hatre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/javier-mar-as-2874_artistic-life_as-a-young-man-he-was-already-rather-pom_3008076.png" --- # As a young man, he was already rather pompous and full of… ![“As a young man, he was already rather pompous and full of himself, concerned with what he would write and with his early (and, later, perennial) hatred of Ireland and the Irish. When he had still written only a few poems, he asked his brother Stanislaus: “Don’t you think there is a certain…” quote by Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/javier-mar-as-2874_artistic-life_as-a-young-man-he-was-already-rather-pom_3008076.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/javier-mar-as-2874_artistic-life_as-a-young-man-he-was-already-rather-pom_3008076.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/javier-mar-as-2874_artistic-life_as-a-young-man-he-was-already-rather-pom_3008076.png) > ““As a young man, he was already rather pompous and full of himself, concerned with what he would write and with his early (and, later, perennial) hatred of Ireland and the Irish. When he had still written only a few poems, he asked his brother Stanislaus: “Don’t you think there is a certain resemblance between the mystery of the Mass and what I am trying to do? I mean that I am trying in my poems to give people some kind of intellectual pleasure or spiritual enjoyment by converting the bread of daily life into something that has a permanent artistic life of its own…for their mental, moral, and spiritual uplift.” When he was older his comparisons may have been less eucharistic and more modest, but he was always convinced of the extreme importance of his work, even before it existed.”” [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects the writer’s early confidence and desire to elevate everyday experience into lasting artistic and spiritual value, likening his poetry to a sacred ritual. **In simple terms:** He believed his poems could transform ordinary life into something lasting and uplifting. Key Takeaway Seek to give your work deeper meaning. Themes confidence artistic purpose spiritual uplift literary ambition Mood reflective introspective critical Type literary philosophical biographical When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journaling - teaching literature - creative retreats Key Concepts sacred metaphor artistic transformation self‑perception Questions to Reflect On - How does comparing art to ritual affect its reception? - Can confidence become arrogance? A Different Perspective The high self‑importance may blind him to critique and limit growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artistic life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic-life/) [Daily life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-life/) [James-joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/james-joyce-2/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [When I came back from Pakistan, I wanted to take computer classes nearby. I asked my brother. 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Never got a dinner!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-buttons/billy-carter-who-asked-his-brother-jimmy-do-you-think-you-could-get/) [Red Buttons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-buttons/) > [“(Lucy to Isabeau)" “Cool.” She tilted her head. “You don’t look crazy.” “You’re like a runaway train,” Logan groaned at her. “Can’t you shut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyxandra-harvey/lucy-to-isabeau-cool-she-tilted-her-head-you-don-t-look-crazy-you-re/) [Alyxandra Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyxandra-harvey/) > [“Very well. I will take you to Oxford. It might be an educational opportunity at that. You can see the college your father attended,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-metzger/very-well-i-will-take-you-to-oxford-it-might-be-an-educational/) Barbara Metzger > [Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' 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And then I knock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-barnacle/i-go-to-bed-and-then-that-man-sits-in-the-next-room-and-continues/) Nora Barnacle > [“It was not his nature to believe that he should engage in any kind of meddling or become actively involved in politics. His vocation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carola-giedion-welcker/it-was-not-his-nature-to-believe-that-he-should-engage-in-any-kind-of/) Carola Giedion-Welcker > [ “A man \[Joyce\] whose earliest stories appeared next to the manure prices in the Irish Homestead knew that columns of prose, like columns of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-kiberd/a-man-joyce-whose-earliest-stories-appeared-next-to-the-manure-prices/) Declan Kiberd ## More by Javier Marías > [We all have to lead our own life, and we only have the one life, and the only people who can live life not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/we-all-have-to-lead-our-own-life-and-we-only-have-the-one-life-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“And we offer each other words of consolotation or distraction or encouragement when we see that one or the other of us is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/and-we-offer-each-other-words-of-consolotation-or-distraction-or/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“The principal and the most common problem at the beginning of any fairly conventional marriage is that regardless of the facilities for disengagement available…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/the-principal-and-the-most-common-problem-at-the-beginning-of-any/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Jedan par, pomislih, koji zavisi i živi od svojih prepreka; jedan par koji će se rasturiti kad ih ne bude bilo, ako ga pre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/jedan-par-pomislih-koji-zavisi-i-ivi-od-svojih-prepreka-jedan-par/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“I knew that Sundays in England aren't just ordinary dull Sundays, the same the world over, which demand that one simply tiptoe through without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-knew-that-sundays-in-england-aren-t-just-ordinary-dull-sundays-the/) [Javier Marias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Everything can be ridiculous or tragic according to who is doing the telling or how they tell it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/everything-can-be-ridiculous-or-tragic-according-to-who-is-doing-the/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [Life is a very bad novelist. 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It is the feeling that requires the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“... I had stayed still and let the days pass, which is the best way to allow things in the real world to dissolve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-had-stayed-still-and-let-the-days-pass-which-is-the-best-way-to/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [I have a tendency to want to understand everything people say and everything I hear, both at work and outside, even at a distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-have-a-tendency-to-want-to-understand-everything-people-say-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) [Explore all 71 Javier Marías quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## More Artistic life quotes > [It is fatal to one's artistic life to talk about something this is in process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/it-is-fatal-to-one-s-artistic-life-to-talk-about-something-this-is-in/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/it-is-art-that-makes-life-makes-interest-makes-importance/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“There are all sorts of families," Tom's grandmother had remarked, and over the following few weeks Tom became part of the Casson family, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mckay/there-are-all-sorts-of-families-tom-s-grandmother-had-remarked-and/) [Hilary McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mckay/) > [I think for anyone who follows the 'artistic life,' a certain amount of selfishness and self-involvement is part of the package. You're probably already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chase/i-think-for-anyone-who-follows-the-artistic-life-a-certain-amount-of/) [David Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chase/) > [My whole artistic life has always been about change, change, change, move on, move on. It's the only thing I find interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/my-whole-artistic-life-has-always-been-about-change-change-change/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [The pleasure that attaches to the artistic life comes in imagining what we might do as opposed to acknowledging what we have done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-solomon/the-pleasure-that-attaches-to-the-artistic-life-comes-in-imagining/) [Deborah Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-solomon/) > [Love trumps everything. 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