--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I had to face, the very bitter…" description: "\"What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of wri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png" --- # What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone… ![“What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish.” quote by Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png) > “What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish.” [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even a masterfully written passage may be irrelevant to the overall work, highlighting the need for coherence over isolated brilliance. **In simple terms:** Great writing must fit the whole story. Key Takeaway Prioritize narrative cohesion. Themes writing editing coherence Mood instructive critical Type creative editorial When to use this quote - novel drafting - academic publishing - self‑editing Key Concepts literary craft manuscript development creative process Questions to Reflect On - When should you cut a beautiful sentence? - How does coherence affect reader engagement? A Different Perspective A brilliant line can disrupt flow if misplaced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-forche/a-thing-may-in-itself-be-the-finest-piece-of-writing-one-has-ever/) [Carolyn Forche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-forche/) > [Every experience, however bitter, has its lesson, and to focus one's attention on the lesson helps one overcome the bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-howard-griggs/every-experience-however-bitter-has-its-lesson-and-to-focus-one-s/) Edward Howard Griggs > [I try to write about a woman finding her self-respect, valuing herself, and liking herself again. But what one desperately wants now is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-o-mara/i-try-to-write-about-a-woman-finding-her-self-respect-valuing-herself/) [Kate O'Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-o-mara/) > [You have two choices, write about something of significance or do something someone wants to write about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/you-have-two-choices-write-about-something-of-significance-or-do/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Your intuition already knows what it wants to write, so get out of the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/your-intuition-already-knows-what-it-wants-to-write-so-get-out-of-the/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Man knows, and in the course of years he comes to know it increasingly well, feeling it ever more acutely, that memory is weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/man-knows-and-in-the-course-of-years-he-comes-to-know-it-increasingly/) [Ryszard Kapuściński](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [“For anyone who wants to write, and hopes some day to publish what he or she has written, it is far more important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/for-anyone-who-wants-to-write-and-hopes-some-day-to-publish-what-he/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [It's just like I get this identity crisis: my body doesn't want to write, my mind doesn't want to write. Nothing about me wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-temple/it-s-just-like-i-get-this-identity-crisis-my-body-doesn-t-want-to/) [Luke Temple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-temple/) > [There are books that a writer undertakes because she wants to go on a journey, and there are journeys a writer undertakes because she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/there-are-books-that-a-writer-undertakes-because-she-wants-to-go-on-a/) [Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/) > [When a man wants to write a book full of unassailable facts, he always goes to the British Museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/when-a-man-wants-to-write-a-book-full-of-unassailable-facts-he-always/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [Someone who wants to write should make an effort to write a little something every day. 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He wants to write more poems, enough to fill half the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nachoem-m-wijnberg/but-take-away-his-poems-and-what-does-he-have-left-he-wants-to-write/) Nachoem M Wijnberg > [It's all the unwordable things one wants to write about, just as it's all the unformable things one wants to paint - essence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-carr/it-s-all-the-unwordable-things-one-wants-to-write-about-just-as-it-s/) [Emily Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-carr/) ## More by Thomas Wolfe > [“So all were gone at last, one by one, each swept out into the mighty flood tide of the city's life, there to prove,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/so-all-were-gone-at-last-one-by-one-each-swept-out-into-the-mighty/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“A stick is not only wood but the negation of wood. It is the meeting in space of wood and no-wood. A stick is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/a-stick-is-not-only-wood-but-the-negation-of-wood-it-is-the-meeting/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/all-things-on-earth-point-home-in-old-october-sailors-to-sea/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“At these repeated signs of decadence in a society which had once been the object of his envy and his highest ambition, Webber's face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/at-these-repeated-signs-of-decadence-in-a-society-which-had-once-been/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. 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They were his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/the-mountains-were-his-masters-they-rimmed-in-life-they-were-the-cup/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“For four years he lived in Brooklyn, and four years in Brooklyn are a geologic age -- a single stratum of grey time. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/for-four-years-he-lived-in-brooklyn-and-four-years-in-brooklyn-are-a/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“Eugene looked with passionate devotion at that grand old head, calm, wise and comforting. In a moment of vision, he saw that, for him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/eugene-looked-with-passionate-devotion-at-that-grand-old-head-calm/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [Each moment is the fruit of forty thousand years. The minute-winning days, like flies, buzz home to death, and every moment is a window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-moment-is-the-fruit-of-forty-thousand-years-the-minute-winning/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“Among other things Jonestown was an example of a definition well known to sociologists of religion: a cult is a religion with no political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/among-other-things-jonestown-was-an-example-of-a-definition-well/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“They clung together in that bright moment of wonder, there on the magic island, where the world was quiet, believing all they said. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/they-clung-together-in-that-bright-moment-of-wonder-there-on-the/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/loneliness-is-and-always-has-been-the-central-and-inevitable/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“Come up into the hills, O my young love. Return! O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again, as first I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/come-up-into-the-hills-o-my-young-love-return-o-lost-and-by-the-wind/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) [Explore all 109 Thomas Wolfe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) ## More Bitter quotes > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Troy was a sweet, good man. We just were never destined to be married. We just didn't have the same values. But I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-pleshette/troy-was-a-sweet-good-man-we-just-were-never-destined-to-be-married/) [Suzanne Pleshette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-pleshette/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [One may have been a fool, but there's no foolishness like being bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/one-may-have-been-a-fool-but-there-s-no-foolishness-like-being-bitter/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [“I doubt taking in a sullen, bitter, teenage girl with more issues than National Geographic is at the center of the vision board for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katja-millay/i-doubt-taking-in-a-sullen-bitter-teenage-girl-with-more-issues-than/) [Katja Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katja-millay/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Life is too bitter already, without territories and wars and noble feuds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-too-bitter-already-without-territories-and-wars-and-noble/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With every interview you feel like you lose a piece of yourself, and with every bad review you become just that little bit more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-march/with-every-interview-you-feel-like-you-lose-a-piece-of-yourself-and/) [Jane March](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-march/) > [“Without the bitter, the sweet ain’t as sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-the-bitter-the-sweet-ain-t-as-sweet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I refuse to be one of those artists who, 10 years from now, they're bitter about the rise and the fall of their career.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-refuse-to-be-one-of-those-artists-who-10-years-from-now-they-re/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [“In these days in which we live, when existence has become a thing of infinite complexity and fate, if it slips us a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/in-these-days-in-which-we-live-when-existence-has-become-a-thing-of/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/if-a-sudden-jar-can-cause-me-to-speak-an-impatient-unloving-word-then/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) Browse all 1,923 Bitter quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Wolfe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesson-that-everyone-who-wants-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bitter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesson-that-everyone-who-wants-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/thomas-wolfe-4237_bitter_what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesso_272709.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a…” — Thomas Wolfe", "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": "Thomas Wolfe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What I had to face, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesson-that-everyone-who-wants-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesson-that-everyone-who-wants-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 } } ] } ```