--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before World War II, I was living a very…" description: "\"Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come from any real, personal ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/will-eisner-30264_accumulation_before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very_5300.jpg" --- # Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered… ![“Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come from any real, personal life experience; this was all the residue of the accumulation of Rafael Sabatini, O. Henry, all the short-story writers that I'd been reading.” quote by Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/will-eisner-30264_accumulation_before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very_5300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/will-eisner-30264_accumulation_before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very_5300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/will-eisner-30264_accumulation_before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very_5300.jpg) > “Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come from any real, personal life experience; this was all the residue of the accumulation of Rafael Sabatini, O. Henry, all the short-story writers that I'd been reading.” [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The creator acknowledges that early work was derivative, built from literary influences rather than lived experience, highlighting the gap between imagination and personal authenticity. **In simple terms:** Early art was imitation, not lived truth. Key Takeaway Authenticity grows from personal experience. Themes creative process influence authenticity learning artistic growth Mood reflective introspective thoughtful Type personal anecdote creative insight When to use this quote - starting a career - seeking originality - reflecting on past work Key Concepts derivation literary influence personal experience Practical Applications - Developing a unique voice - Using influences as a springboard Questions to Reflect On - How can personal experience deepen your work? - When does imitation become originality? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Cartoonists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cartoonists/) [Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experience/) [Personal life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-life/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-writers/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War of the worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-of-the-worlds/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) [World war ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-ii/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Poetry died as a commercial form and then it died as a serious art form. No one serious touches it. It used to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/poetry-died-as-a-commercial-form-and-then-it-died-as-a-serious-art/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [It's not easy to tell a story about writers and make that feel like a complete story and an interesting story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-kinnear/it-s-not-easy-to-tell-a-story-about-writers-and-make-that-feel-like-a/) [Greg Kinnear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-kinnear/) > [I think most short story writers, at one time or another, over the course of several books, naturally skirt near the edge of one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-means/i-think-most-short-story-writers-at-one-time-or-another-over-the/) [David Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-means/) > [Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/find-the-key-emotion-this-may-be-all-you-need-know-to-find-your-short/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/if-you-write-one-story-it-may-be-bad-if-you-write-a-hundred-you-have/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/you-learn-by-writing-short-stories-keep-writing-short-stories-the/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) > [One of my favorite writers is short story writer/essayist Jorge Luis Borges, who was blind. I'm not claiming to be anything remotely resembling a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-howes/one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-short-story-writer-essayist-jorge-luis/) Larry Howes > [I write very raw, ugly, illiterate first drafts very quickly (novels are always in first draft in under a year) and then I spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-write-very-raw-ugly-illiterate-first-drafts-very-quickly-novels-are/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [Well, as a short-story writer, I don't think there are any weaknesses to the genre itself. I guess I would say that the difficulty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zz-packer-64818/well-as-a-short-story-writer-i-don-t-think-there-are-any-weaknesses/) ZZ Packer > [Sometimes I say working on a story in a writers' room is like saying the same word over and over and over again until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marti-noxon/sometimes-i-say-working-on-a-story-in-a-writers-room-is-like-saying/) [Marti Noxon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marti-noxon/) > [The more original a short-story writer, the odder looking the assortment of things he or she puts together for a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-bly/the-more-original-a-short-story-writer-the-odder-looking-the/) [Carol Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-bly/) > [I was trained mainly as a short story writer and that's how I started writing, but I've also become very interested in non-fiction, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-was-trained-mainly-as-a-short-story-writer-and-that-s-how-i-started/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I'd like to give these detective story writers a course of routine work. They'd soon learn how most things are untraceable and nobody ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/i-d-like-to-give-these-detective-story-writers-a-course-of-routine/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary-it's just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/all-the-words-i-use-in-my-stories-can-be-found-in-the-dictionary-it-s/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If this "critical openminded attitude" ... is wanted, the question at once arises, Is it science that should be studied in order to achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-standen/if-this-critical-openminded-attitude-is-wanted-the-question-at-once/) [Anthony Standen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-standen/) ## More by Will Eisner > [Ive spent my whole life working in a medium that was regarded with contempt largely because of historical reasons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/ive-spent-my-whole-life-working-in-a-medium-that-was-regarded-with/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [We have this history of impossible solutions to insoluble problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/we-have-this-history-of-impossible-solutions-to-insoluble-problems/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [ \[Before the Spirit\] I had been producing comic books for 15-year-old cretins from Kansas \[I wanted to aim for\] a 55-year-old who had his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-the-spirit-i-had-been-producing-comic-books-for-15-year-old/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [I want to point out to adults that there is a world of good material available to you now in comic form - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/i-want-to-point-out-to-adults-that-there-is-a-world-of-good-material/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [ Still,\[...\] in all forms of comics the sequential artist relies upon the tacit cooperation of the reader. This cooperation is based upon the convention… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/still-in-all-forms-of-comics-the-sequential-artist-relies-upon-the/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [Humor has historically been tied to the mores of the day. The Yellow Kid was predicated on what people thought was funny about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/humor-has-historically-been-tied-to-the-mores-of-the-day-the-yellow/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [Comics, which are really best described as an arrangement of images in a sequence that tell a story - an idea - is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/comics-which-are-really-best-described-as-an-arrangement-of-images-in/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [Superheroes are mostly aimed at young teen-age males concerned with their manhood. The medium will have to address itself more to content. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/superheroes-are-mostly-aimed-at-young-teen-age-males-concerned-with/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [I write about what I know and what I have experienced. This keeps me an "honest" writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/i-write-about-what-i-know-and-what-i-have-experienced-this-keeps-me/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [A key to my thinking has always been the almost fanatical belief that what I was engaged in was a literary art form. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/a-key-to-my-thinking-has-always-been-the-almost-fanatical-belief-that/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [“You are learned in the Word of God--And if you know His Word, you know His Will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/you-are-learned-in-the-word-of-god-and-if-you-know-his-word-you-know/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [Thus, sped by currents of curiosity afloat the swift river of rumor do secrets sail to strange ports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/thus-sped-by-currents-of-curiosity-afloat-the-swift-river-of-rumor-do/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [“Living in a big city can be compared to existing in a jungle. One becomes a creature of the environment. The response to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/living-in-a-big-city-can-be-compared-to-existing-in-a-jungle-one/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [The term comics long ago became obsolete and inaccurate. It merely defined the content of the early joke-based comical strips. Sequential Art is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/the-term-comics-long-ago-became-obsolete-and-inaccurate-it-merely/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [As for me, I am in pursuit of excellence. I have no time to get old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/as-for-me-i-am-in-pursuit-of-excellence-i-have-no-time-to-get-old/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) [Explore all 17 Will Eisner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) ## More Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [“Great offense and poor defense translate into under accumulation of wealth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-stanley/great-offense-and-poor-defense-translate-into-under-accumulation-of/) [Thomas J. Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-j-stanley/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come from any real, personal life experience; this was all the residue of the accumulation of Rafael Sabatini, O. 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