--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wings of a half finished book across his…" description: "\"“Wings of a half finished book across his chest.”\" — Jonathan Safran Foer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png" --- # Wings of a half finished book across his chest. ![“Wings of a half finished book across his chest.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png) > ““Wings of a half finished book across his chest.”” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A half‑finished book is like a wing that cannot fully lift. **In simple terms:** Incomplete work lacks full impact. Key Takeaway Finish projects to realize their potential. Themes writing incompletion potential Mood thoughtful inspired Type motivational reflective When to use this quote - draft writing - editing - publishing - creative blocks Key Concepts creative process unfinished art Questions to Reflect On - What prevents you from completing work? - How can you embrace imperfection? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book Chest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-chest-1638656/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Description](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description/) [Finished Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished-book-470060/) [Half Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-finished-816648/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings/) [Wings Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings-half-2090529/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [My brother had a big comic book chest, and he kept the key in the exact same place. So when he would leave for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabaa-tahir/my-brother-had-a-big-comic-book-chest-and-he-kept-the-key-in-the/) [Sabaa Tahir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabaa-tahir/) > [“my spirit shook its always-fettered wings half loose;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-spirit-shook-its-always-fettered-wings-half-loose/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I continually blacken pages and scribble away, so I always have a number of songs that are half-finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-continually-blacken-pages-and-scribble-away-so-i-always-have-a/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [Who's started has half finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-s-started-has-half-finished/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/half-finished-work-generally-proves-to-be-labor-lost/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [A half finished shawl left on the coffee table isn't a mess; it's an object of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-pearl-mcphee/a-half-finished-shawl-left-on-the-coffee-table-isn-t-a-mess-it-s-an/) [Stephanie Pearl-McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-pearl-mcphee/) > [Nobody wants to see a half-finished Vine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maisie-williams/nobody-wants-to-see-a-half-finished-vine/) [Maisie Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maisie-williams/) > [My solo albums were each like a half-finished puzzle; they represented only the beginning of a full picture. Simply put, they were inadequate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-slick/my-solo-albums-were-each-like-a-half-finished-puzzle-they-represented/) [Grace Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-slick/) > [For me - showing a half-finished manuscript is tricky. Just as a bird will get spooked and abandon her eggs if some outside party…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/for-me-showing-a-half-finished-manuscript-is-tricky-just-as-a-bird/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [I've written a couple screenplays and half-finished plays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-meloni/i-ve-written-a-couple-screenplays-and-half-finished-plays/) [Christopher Meloni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-meloni/) > [First snow-falling-on the half-finished bridge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/first-snow-falling-on-the-half-finished-bridge/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [There is nothing so fatal to character as half finished tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/there-is-nothing-so-fatal-to-character-as-half-finished-tasks/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [“ToScottie March 11, 1939 p. 387- 388 And please do not leave good books half- finished, you spoil them for yourself...Don't be so lavish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/toscottie-march-11-1939-p-387-388-and-please-do-not-leave-good-books/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [A painting that is well composed is half finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bonnard/a-painting-that-is-well-composed-is-half-finished/) [Pierre Bonnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bonnard/) > [A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/a-half-read-book-is-a-half-finished-love-affair/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## 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. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Wings of a half finished book across his chest.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his-chest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his-chest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/jonathan-safran-foer-136_books_wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his_998460.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Wings of a half finished book across his chest.” — Jonathan Safran Foer", "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Wings of a half finished book...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his-chest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/wings-of-a-half-finished-book-across-his-chest/#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 } } ] } ```