--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Literature is the human activity that…" description: "\"Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.\" — Lionel Tril..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png" --- # Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and… ![“Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.” quote by Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png) > “Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.” [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature captures humanity’s diversity, possibilities, complexities, and challenges with precision. **In simple terms:** Literature reflects human complexity. Key Takeaway Read to understand varied experiences. Themes literature humanity complexity Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - personal growth - critical thinking Key Concepts narrative analysis cultural insight Questions to Reflect On - What does literature reveal about society? - How does it shape our worldview? A Different Perspective Interpretations can be subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-activity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Precise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precise/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-takes-the-fullest-and-most/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [“As often I have been a science fiction writer writing science fiction for the community of science fiction readers, I am also, for good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/as-often-i-have-been-a-science-fiction-writer-writing-science-fiction/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I realised the amazing power of literature and of the human imagination generally: to make the dead live and to stop the living from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/i-realised-the-amazing-power-of-literature-and-of-the-human/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [ “If \[literature\] should turn into pure propaganda or pure entertainment, society will slip back into the sty of the immediate -- which is to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/if-literature-should-turn-into-pure-propaganda-or-pure-entertainment/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Science has discovered that, like any work of literature, the human genome is a text in need of commentary, for what Eliot said of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/science-has-discovered-that-like-any-work-of-literature-the-human/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [Literature is a human apocalypse, man's revelation to man, and criticism is not a body of adjudications, but the awareness of that revelation, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/literature-is-a-human-apocalypse-man-s-revelation-to-man-and/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [There is an ultimate wildness in all this, for the universe, as existence itself, is a terrifying as well as a benign mode of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/there-is-an-ultimate-wildness-in-all-this-for-the-universe-as/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [In science, as in art, and, as I believe, in every other sphere of human activity, there may be wisdom in a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-science-as-in-art-and-as-i-believe-in-every-other-sphere-of-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Perhaps the meaning of all human activity lies in the artistic consciousness, in the pointless and selfless creative act? Perhaps our capacity to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/perhaps-the-meaning-of-all-human-activity-lies-in-the-artistic/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach I project the condition of my soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/teaching-like-any-truly-human-activity-emerges-from-one-s-inwardness/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [Science is perhaps the only human activity in which errors are systematically criticized and, in time, corrected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-perhaps-the-only-human-activity-in-which-errors-are/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/art-is-a-human-activity-consisting-in-this-that-one-man-consciously/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [All human activities, professions, programs, and institutions must henceforth be judged primarily by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore, or foster a mutually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/all-human-activities-professions-programs-and-institutions-must/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [ \[On Cantor's work:\] The finest product of mathematical genius and one of the supreme achievements of purely intellectual human activity. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/on-cantor-s-work-the-finest-product-of-mathematical-genius-and-one-of/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) ## More by Lionel Trilling > [Our culture peculiarly honors the act of blaming, which it takes as the sign of virtue and intellect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/our-culture-peculiarly-honors-the-act-of-blaming-which-it-takes-as/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The definitions of humanism are many, but let us here take it to be the attitude of those men who think it an advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-definitions-of-humanism-are-many-but-let-us-here-take-it-to-be/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/being-a-jew-is-like-walking-in-the-wind-or-swimming-you-are-touched/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-possible-that-the-contemplation-of-cruelty-will-not-make-us/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Every neurosis is a primitive form of legal proceeding in which the accused carries on the prosecution, imposes judgment and executes the sentence: all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/every-neurosis-is-a-primitive-form-of-legal-proceeding-in-which-the/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Some paradox of our natures leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/some-paradox-of-our-natures-leads-us-when-once-we-have-made-our/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [In the American Metaphysical, reality is always material reality, hard, resistant, unformed, impenetrable, and unpleasant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/in-the-american-metaphysical-reality-is-always-material-reality-hard/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [“...perhaps we have never been more than vocal and perhaps soon we can hope to be no more than thoughtful...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/perhaps-we-have-never-been-more-than-vocal-and-perhaps-soon-we-can/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is now life and not art that requires the willing suspension of disbelief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-now-life-and-not-art-that-requires-the-willing-suspension-of/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Ideology is not the product of thought; it is the habit or the ritual of showing respect for certain formulas to which, for various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/ideology-is-not-the-product-of-thought-it-is-the-habit-or-the-ritual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [There is no connection between the political ideas of our educated class and the deep places of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/there-is-no-connection-between-the-political-ideas-of-our-educated/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-function-of-literature-through-all-its-mutations-has-been-to-make/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Unless we insist that politics is imagination and mind, we will learn that imagination and mind are politics, and of a kind we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/unless-we-insist-that-politics-is-imagination-and-mind-we-will-learn/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [We who are liberal and progressive know that the poor are our equals in every sense except that of being equal to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/we-who-are-liberal-and-progressive-know-that-the-poor-are-our-equals/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) [Explore all 56 Lionel Trilling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## More Accounts quotes > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-tweedy/stop-trying-to-treat-music-like-it-s-a-tennis-shoe-something-to-be/) [Jeff Tweedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-tweedy/) > [Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/anyone-who-thinks-science-is-trying-to-make-human-life-easier-or-more/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/that-surely-must-be-a-concern-to-anyone-who-decides-this-drug-must-be/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) Browse all 2,677 Accounts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lionel Trilling" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accounts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/lionel-trilling-12210_accounts_literature-is-the-human-activity-that-ma_159128.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility…” — Lionel Trilling", "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": "Lionel Trilling", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Literature is the human activity that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/#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 } } ] } ```