--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great literature must spring from an…" description: "\"Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the author's soul. If that upheaval is not present then it must come from the works of any other autho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/robert-benchley-2562_adapted_great-literature-must-spring-from-an-uph_2766773.jpg" --- # Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the… ![“Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the author's soul. If that upheaval is not present then it must come from the works of any other author which happens to be handy and easily adapted.” quote by Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/robert-benchley-2562_adapted_great-literature-must-spring-from-an-uph_2766773.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/robert-benchley-2562_adapted_great-literature-must-spring-from-an-uph_2766773.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/robert-benchley-2562_adapted_great-literature-must-spring-from-an-uph_2766773.jpg) > “Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the author's soul. If that upheaval is not present then it must come from the works of any other author which happens to be handy and easily adapted.” [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great literature arises from deep personal turmoil; otherwise it relies on imitation. **In simple terms:** Soul upheaval fuels true art. Key Takeaway Seek authentic emotional experience in writing. Themes creativity authenticity literature inspiration Mood reflective philosophical Type literary artistic When to use this quote - creative workshops - personal journaling - literary criticism Key Concepts Existentialism artistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - Can forced upheaval inspire art? - What is the role of craft? A Different Perspective Imitation may still produce value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adapted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adapted/) [Author Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/author-happens-3212193/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Great literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-literature/) [Handy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handy/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-spring-3212192/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Upheaval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upheaval/) [Upheaval Author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upheaval-author-3212194/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Literature must spring from the deep and submerged humus of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meridel-le-sueur/literature-must-spring-from-the-deep-and-submerged-humus-of-our-life/) [Meridel Le Sueur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meridel-le-sueur/) > [It is something wonderful when one can love another author. 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Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-is-no-such-place-as-budapest-perhaps-you-are-thinking-of/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I am both a public and a private school boy myself, having always changed schools just as the class in English in the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-am-both-a-public-and-a-private-school-boy-myself-having-always/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/anyone-can-do-any-amount-of-work-provided-it-isn-t-the-work-he-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/after-an-author-has-been-dead-for-some-time-it-becomes-increasingly/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [One of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/one-of-the-chief-duties-of-the-fan-is-to-engage-in-arguments-with-the/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-those-who-divide-the-world/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/why-don-t-you-get-out-of-that-wet-coat-and-into-a-dry-martini/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/drinking-makes-such-fools-of-people-and-people-are-such-fools-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Behind every argument is someone's ignorance. Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/behind-every-argument-is-someone-s-ignorance-behind-every-argument-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) [Explore all 161 Robert Benchley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## More Adapted quotes > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [. . . by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the external world. 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