--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A novel is a commodity that fulfills a…" description: "\"A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice cream or aspirin or gin. They even need to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg" --- # A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need… ![“A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice cream or aspirin or gin. They even need to buy a pinch of intellectual catnip now and then to liven up their thoughts...” quote by John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg) > “A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice cream or aspirin or gin. They even need to buy a pinch of intellectual catnip now and then to liven up their thoughts...” [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People purchase escapism and mental stimulation like everyday consumables to satisfy emotional and intellectual cravings. **In simple terms:** People buy daydreams and ideas like ice cream. Key Takeaway Seek stories that refresh your mind. Themes escapism consumerism literature psychology Mood reflective contemplative Type literary observational When to use this quote - reading for pleasure - creative brainstorming - stress relief - social bonding Key Concepts need for mental stimulation cultural consumption Questions to Reflect On - What does your mind crave today? - How do you balance escapism with reality? A Different Perspective Not all purchases lead to lasting fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Ice cream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice-cream/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [After I sign my big contract, I'm gonna make my brothers buy me dinner. They need to buy me something for a change. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-butler/after-i-sign-my-big-contract-i-m-gonna-make-my-brothers-buy-me-dinner/) [Jimmy Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-butler/) > [People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/people-rarely-buy-what-they-need-they-buy-what-they-want/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“The man who buys what he does not need will often need what he cannot buy.’ ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-wingate/the-man-who-buys-what-he-does-not-need-will-often-need-what-he-cannot/) [Lisa Wingate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-wingate/) > [You don't need to buy smile You just do it ^\_^](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdulrahman-eltohami/you-don-t-need-to-buy-smile-you-just-do-it/) [Abdulrahman ElTohami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdulrahman-eltohami/) > [When I am on my board, I always have my ID, ChapStick and maybe a $20 bill, because you never know when you'll need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-sheckler/when-i-am-on-my-board-i-always-have-my-id-chapstick-and-maybe-a-20/) [Ryan Sheckler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-sheckler/) > [People need to buy and want to. The selling itself becomes the entertainment, the sought-after good... In the Internet world there won't be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-w-huber/people-need-to-buy-and-want-to-the-selling-itself-becomes-the/) Peter W. Huber > [If you buy what you do not need, you will need what you cannot buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokshagundam-visvesvaray/if-you-buy-what-you-do-not-need-you-will-need-what-you-cannot-buy/) Mokshagundam Visvesvaray > [With iTunes and Spotify and Pandora and this and that, you don't need to buy CDs any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-garcia/with-itunes-and-spotify-and-pandora-and-this-and-that-you-don-t-need/) [Sergio Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-garcia/) > [“Time to figure out if I need to buy stock in Smith & Wesson or Magnum”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-sloan/time-to-figure-out-if-i-need-to-buy-stock-in-smith-wesson-or-magnum/) [Harper Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-sloan/) > [Every time we buy something we deepen our emotional deprivation and hence our need to buy something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-slater/every-time-we-buy-something-we-deepen-our-emotional-deprivation-and/) [Philip Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-slater/) > [I'm sick and tired of black and white people of good intent giving aspirin to a society that is dying of a cancerous disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-abernathy/i-m-sick-and-tired-of-black-and-white-people-of-good-intent-giving/) [Ralph Abernathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-abernathy/) > [“We are living in a cultural dark age of musical pollution. You put the radio on, and five minutes later you need an aspirin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vangelis/we-are-living-in-a-cultural-dark-age-of-musical-pollution-you-put-the/) [Vangelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vangelis/) > [Professionalism in medicine has given us medial miracles for the affluent but hospitals that will charge $35 for aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-james/professionalism-in-medicine-has-given-us-medial-miracles-for-the/) [Bill James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-james/) > [We have had two chickens in every pot, two cars in every garage, and now we have two headaches for every aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiorello-h-la-guardia/we-have-had-two-chickens-in-every-pot-two-cars-in-every-garage-and/) [Fiorello H. La Guardia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiorello-h-la-guardia/) > [America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin For one dollar and use it up in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrymore/america-is-the-country-where-you-can-buy-a-lifetime-supply-of-aspirin/) [John Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrymore/) ## More by John Dos Passos > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [In a moment when criticism shows a singular dearth of direction every man has to be a law unto himself in matters of theatre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-a-moment-when-criticism-shows-a-singular-dearth-of-direction-every/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [It's rather grisly, isnt it, how soon a living man becomes nothing more than a collection of stocks and bonds and debts and real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/it-s-rather-grisly-isnt-it-how-soon-a-living-man-becomes-nothing-more/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The people of this country are too tolerant. There's no other country in the world where they'd allow it... After all we built up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-people-of-this-country-are-too-tolerant-there-s-no-other-country/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [I never see the dawn that I don't say to myself perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/i-never-see-the-dawn-that-i-don-t-say-to-myself-perhaps/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [When the typewriter stops in a New York office everybody's embarrassed; men start to quarrel or to make love to the stenographer or drop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/when-the-typewriter-stops-in-a-new-york-office-everybody-s/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [What's the use, there never was a woman living who could understand political ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/what-s-the-use-there-never-was-a-woman-living-who-could-understand/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [There is a part of me in every character, naturally. That's why novelists rarely write good autobiographies. You start one and it becomes another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/there-is-a-part-of-me-in-every-character-naturally-that-s-why/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The fascinating thing to a dispassionate observer about the structure of life in the Soviet Union is that in their efforts to produce an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-fascinating-thing-to-a-dispassionate-observer-about-the-structure/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [To fight oppression, and to work as best we can for a sane organization of society, we do not have to abandon the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/to-fight-oppression-and-to-work-as-best-we-can-for-a-sane/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [A satirist is a man whose flesh creeps so at the ugly and the savage and the incongruous aspects of society that he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-satirist-is-a-man-whose-flesh-creeps-so-at-the-ugly-and-the-savage/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [Letters are largely written to get things out of your system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/letters-are-largely-written-to-get-things-out-of-your-system/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The Enormous Room seems to me to be the book that has nearest approached the mood of reckless adventure in which men will reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-enormous-room-seems-to-me-to-be-the-book-that-has-nearest/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [“ Luther Burbank was born in a brick farmhouse in Lancaster Mass, he walked through the woods one winter crunching through the shinycrusted snow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/luther-burbank-was-born-in-a-brick-farmhouse-in-lancaster-mass-he/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [It is a most curious experience for a man of seventy-two to be confronted with the greenhorn enthusiasms of his youth. Young people think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/it-is-a-most-curious-experience-for-a-man-of-seventy-two-to-be/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) [Explore all 125 John Dos Passos quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) ## More Aspirin quotes > [America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin For one dollar and use it up in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrymore/america-is-the-country-where-you-can-buy-a-lifetime-supply-of-aspirin/) [John Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrymore/) > [We have had two chickens in every pot, two cars in every garage, and now we have two headaches for every aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiorello-h-la-guardia/we-have-had-two-chickens-in-every-pot-two-cars-in-every-garage-and/) [Fiorello H. La Guardia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiorello-h-la-guardia/) > [Professionalism in medicine has given us medial miracles for the affluent but hospitals that will charge $35 for aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-james/professionalism-in-medicine-has-given-us-medial-miracles-for-the/) [Bill James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-james/) > [“We are living in a cultural dark age of musical pollution. You put the radio on, and five minutes later you need an aspirin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vangelis/we-are-living-in-a-cultural-dark-age-of-musical-pollution-you-put-the/) [Vangelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vangelis/) > [I'm sick and tired of black and white people of good intent giving aspirin to a society that is dying of a cancerous disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-abernathy/i-m-sick-and-tired-of-black-and-white-people-of-good-intent-giving/) [Ralph Abernathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-abernathy/) > [I’ve tried that. I’ve tried aspirin, too. Rusty thinks I should smoke marijuana, and I did for a while, but it only makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/i-ve-tried-that-i-ve-tried-aspirin-too-rusty-thinks-i-should-smoke/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [ Nancy \[Kassebaum\] and I worked on a women's health agenda when I first came. Women were not included in the protocols at NIH, the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mikulski/nancy-kassebaum-and-i-worked-on-a-women-s-health-agenda-when-i-first/) [Barbara Mikulski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mikulski/) > [We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/we-are-close-to-dead-there-are-faces-and-bodies-like-gorged-maggots/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: Take two aspirin and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/if-you-have-a-lot-of-tension-and-you-get-a-headache-do-what-it-says/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [The pressure gets worse the older you get. The hole starts to look the size of a Bayer aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-player/the-pressure-gets-worse-the-older-you-get-the-hole-starts-to-look-the/) [Gary Player](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-player/) > [The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foster-friess/you-know-back-in-my-days-they-used-bayer-aspirin-for-contraception/) [Foster Friess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foster-friess/) > [I don't even take aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-davis/i-don-t-even-take-aspirin/) [Eric Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-davis/) > [My head is pounding. I wish the mints were aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/my-head-is-pounding-i-wish-the-mints-were-aspirin/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [A clown is like aspirin, only he works twice as fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/a-clown-is-like-aspirin-only-he-works-twice-as-fast/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) Browse all 105 Aspirin quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice cream or aspirin or gin. They even need to buy a pinch of intellectual catnip now and then to liven up their thoughts...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dos Passos" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-certain-need-people-need-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aspirin" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-certain-need-people-need-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/john-dos-passos-3598_aspirin_a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-c_1871034.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice…” — John Dos Passos", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Dos Passos", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A novel is a commodity that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-certain-need-people-need-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-novel-is-a-commodity-that-fulfills-a-certain-need-people-need-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```