Life & Wisdom Quote by Laurell K. Hamilton

The line is a flex that disguises itself as a shrug. Laurell K. Hamilton frames persistence not as a noble calling but as a simple prerequisite for not vanishing. The conditional clause - "If I'd been easily discouraged" - implies discouragement is the default weather of a creative life. The punch comes from how casually she names the alternative: a "one-hit wonder", that slightly cruel pop-culture label that reduces a career to an accident.

Hamilton is writing from inside a genre ecosystem (urban fantasy, paranormal romance) that treats writers like content engines: produce, brand, repeat. In that context, the quote reads less like motivational poster fodder and more like an industry report. Success is not a single breakthrough; it's surviving the long, boring stretch after the breakthrough, when expectations harden into contracts and fandoms metastasize into entitlement. The subtext is about stamina under scrutiny: reviews that turn personal, gatekeepers who sneer at popular genre work, the constant demand to "stay the same but get better."

The phrase "could have been" matters too. She doesn't deny talent or luck; she suggests the deciding factor is tolerance for rejection, fatigue, and reinvention. It's also a quiet rebuke to the myth of the effortlessly chosen artist. Hamilton positions longevity as earned, not granted - and she does it with the language of mass culture, where "hits" are counted and careers are treated like charts. The intent is crisp: don't romanticize the spark; respect the grind that keeps the lights on.