Famous quote by Katherine Mansfield

"Would you not like to try all sorts of lives - one is so very small - but that is the satisfaction of writing - one can impersonate so many people"

About this Quote

Katherine Mansfield's quote invites readers into the expansive and complex world of storytelling, where the constraints of a single human life can be transcended through the act of composing. At its core, this quote speaks to the human yearning for multiplicity in experience and identity. Mansfield acknowledges the fundamental smallness of any one life, recommending a universal desire to explore the large and diverse spectrum of human presence. This desire is juxtaposed with the truth that each person is bound by the singularity of their own experiences and timeline.

In the phrase "Would you not like to attempt all sorts of lives", Mansfield take advantage of the inherent interest and thirst for exploration that lives within the human psyche. Life, she suggests, is a singular story with many possible paths uncharted, a belief that echoes the aggravations and restrictions felt by lots of. This feeling of limitation is empathetically captured in the notion of one's life being "so extremely little", an acknowledgment that our individual stories are confined to our own experiences and choices.

However, Mansfield presents composing as an antidote to these restrictions. Through composing, one gains the "satisfaction" of vicariously living through countless characters, stories, and landscapes. It enables individuals to "impersonate a lot of individuals", stepping into shoes greatly different from their own and expanding their understanding and empathy for a variety of human conditions and viewpoints. Composing, in this sense, becomes an imaginative act of freedom and empowerment, enabling the expedition of lives beyond our own.

Ultimately, Mansfield's declaration is an event of the art of composing as a kind of transcendence, using an automobile through which the vast tapestry of human experience can be accessed and comprehended. By welcoming this imaginative pursuit, one is not limited to a particular presence but is totally free to check out the depth and breadth of humankind.

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New Zealand Flag This quote is written / told by Katherine Mansfield between October 14, 1888 and January 9, 1923. He/she was a famous Author from New Zealand. The author also have 21 other quotes.
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