--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So long as a novelist works selfishly for…" description: "\"So long as a novelist works selfishly for the pleasure of creating character and situation corresponding to his own illusions, ideals and intuitions, h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/willa-cather-634_benefits_so-long-as-a-novelist-works-selfishly-fo_880863.jpg" --- # So long as a novelist works selfishly for the pleasure of… ![“So long as a novelist works selfishly for the pleasure of creating character and situation corresponding to his own illusions, ideals and intuitions, he will always produce something worth while and natural. Directly he takes himself too seriously and begins for the alleged benefit of humanity an…” quote by Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/willa-cather-634_benefits_so-long-as-a-novelist-works-selfishly-fo_880863.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/willa-cather-634_benefits_so-long-as-a-novelist-works-selfishly-fo_880863.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/willa-cather-634_benefits_so-long-as-a-novelist-works-selfishly-fo_880863.jpg) > “So long as a novelist works selfishly for the pleasure of creating character and situation corresponding to his own illusions, ideals and intuitions, he will always produce something worth while and natural. Directly he takes himself too seriously and begins for the alleged benefit of humanity an elaborate dissection of complexes, he evolves a book that is more ridiculous and tiresome than the most conventional cold cream girl novel of yesterday.” [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing driven by personal pleasure yields authentic work, while over‑intellectualizing for humanity’s sake leads to pretentious, dull results. **In simple terms:** Personal joy creates genuine writing; over‑analysis makes it stale. Key Takeaway Write for personal fulfillment, not external validation. Themes authenticity creativity self‑critique Mood thoughtful inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - creative process - self‑evaluation - publishing decisions Key Concepts literary theory ego artistic purpose Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep your work authentic while considering readers? - When does self‑critique become counterproductive? A Different Perspective Balancing personal joy with audience awareness is challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-ridiculous-1051548/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Conventional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conventional/) [Corresponding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corresponding/) [Cream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cream/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Creating characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating-characters/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Dissection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissection/) [Evolve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolve/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novelist Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist-works-1051547/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Produce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/produce/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Selfishly Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishly-pleasure-1051549/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Tiresome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tiresome/) [Works Selfishly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-selfishly-1051546/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Yesterday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yesterday/) ## Related quotes > [The novelist works neither to correct nor to condone, not at all to comfort, but to make what's told alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/the-novelist-works-neither-to-correct-nor-to-condone-not-at-all-to/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Creating characters is easy. 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I believe in plot. I believe in creating characters and suspense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gaines/i-believe-that-the-writer-should-tell-a-story-i-believe-in-plot-i/) [Ernest Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gaines/) > [I was creating characters early. People didn't beat me up. I scared them. I hated authority. I could also get people to do things;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/i-was-creating-characters-early-people-didn-t-beat-me-up-i-scared/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [I understood, through rehab, things about creating characters. I understood that creating whole people means knowing where we come from, how we can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/i-understood-through-rehab-things-about-creating-characters-i/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [I love creating characters and becoming someone else entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brina-palencia/i-love-creating-characters-and-becoming-someone-else-entirely/) [Brina Palencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brina-palencia/) > [I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-wein/i-m-a-neurotic-new-york-jew-by-birth-creating-characters-is-second/) [Len Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-wein/) > [I think it is all about creating characters, mixing them up with the stars and the light-years, and coming back to Earth, because we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-clementine/i-think-it-is-all-about-creating-characters-mixing-them-up-with-the/) [Benjamin Clementine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-clementine/) > [One of the challenges is creating characters. I am trying to compose my sentences to express epic events happening to ordinary people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-hirata/one-of-the-challenges-is-creating-characters-i-am-trying-to-compose/) [Andrea Hirata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-hirata/) > [“It seems to me that you might create any sort of character in a novel and there would be at least one person in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soseki-natsume/it-seems-to-me-that-you-might-create-any-sort-of-character-in-a-novel/) [Sōseki Natsume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soseki-natsume/) ## More by Willa Cather > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Success is less interesting than struggle. There is great pleasure in the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/success-is-less-interesting-than-struggle-there-is-great-pleasure-in/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“I only knew the schoolbooks said he "died in the wilderness, of a broken heart." "More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-only-knew-the-schoolbooks-said-he-died-in-the-wilderness-of-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Have the last word ma'm," he said cheerfully. "It's a lady's privilege.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/have-the-last-word-ma-m-he-said-cheerfully-it-s-a-lady-s-privilege/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > ["More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly, and the girls murmured assent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/more-than-him-has-done-that-said-antonia-sadly-and-the-girls-murmured/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Nothing mattered ... but writing books, and living the kind of life that made it possible to write them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/nothing-mattered-but-writing-books-and-living-the-kind-of-life-that/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Money and office and success are the consolations of impotence. Fortune turns kind to such solid people and lets them suck their bone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/money-and-office-and-success-are-the-consolations-of-impotence/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [But she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/but-she-still-had-that-something-which-fires-the-imagination-could/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“You remember how homesick I used to get, and what long talks we used to have coming from school? We've someway always felt alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/you-remember-how-homesick-i-used-to-get-and-what-long-talks-we-used/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“He placed this book in my grandmother's hands, looked at her entreatingly, and said, with an earnestness which I shall never forget, "Te-e-ach, te-e-ach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/he-placed-this-book-in-my-grandmother-s-hands-looked-at-her/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [The sincerity of feeling that is possible between a writer and a reader is one of the finest things I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-sincerity-of-feeling-that-is-possible-between-a-writer-and-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/our-tree-became-the-talking-tree-of-the-fairy-tale-legends-and/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/isn-t-it-queer-there-are-only-two-or-three-human-stories-and-they-go/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) [Explore all 434 Willa Cather quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## More Benefits quotes > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Shortly after I turned 50, both Ted Turner and the AARP came into my life. The only difference? With AARP, there were benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/shortly-after-i-turned-50-both-ted-turner-and-the-aarp-came-into-my/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. 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