The thought of these vast stacks of books would drive him mad: the more he read, the less he seemed to know - the greater the number of the books he read, the greater the immense uncountable number of those which he could never read would seem to be…. The thought that other books were waiting for him tore at his heart forever.
by Thomas Wolfe
(0 Reviews)
In Thomas Wolfe's "Of Time and the River," the protagonist grapples with the overwhelming presence of countless unread books. Each book he picks up amplifies his sense of ignorance, as he realizes that the more he reads, the more he becomes aware of the vast sea of knowledge he cannot access. This realization creates a poignant sense of despair, highlighting the paradox of learning: the more one knows, the more one understands the limits of their own knowledge. The endless possibilities represented by these unread books trigger a profound emotional response in the character. The anticipation of the knowledge that awaits him, combined with the recognition of what will remain unknown, weighs heavily on his heart. This conflict illustrates a deep hunger for understanding, emphasizing the never-ending pursuit of learning and the heartache that comes with recognizing the limits of one's reach in the literary world.

In Thomas Wolfe's "Of Time and the River," the protagonist grapples with the overwhelming presence of countless unread books. Each book he picks up amplifies his sense of ignorance, as he realizes that the more he reads, the more he becomes aware of the vast sea of knowledge he cannot access. This realization creates a poignant sense of despair, highlighting the paradox of learning: the more one knows, the more one understands the limits of their own knowledge.

The endless possibilities represented by these unread books trigger a profound emotional response in the character. The anticipation of the knowledge that awaits him, combined with the recognition of what will remain unknown, weighs heavily on his heart. This conflict illustrates a deep hunger for understanding, emphasizing the never-ending pursuit of learning and the heartache that comes with recognizing the limits of one's reach in the literary world.

Stats

Categories
Author
Votes
0
Page views
15
Update
March 26, 2025

Rate the Quote

Add Comment & Review

User Reviews

Based on 0 reviews
5 Star
0
4 Star
0
3 Star
0
2 Star
0
1 Star
0
Add Comment & Review
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
More »

Other quotes in literature

More »

Popular quotes

Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.
by Mitch Albom
All our human endeavours are like that, she reflected, and it is only because we are too ignorant to realize it, or are too forgetful to remember it, that we have the confidence to build something that is meant to last.
by Alexander McCall Smith
The value of money is subjective, depending on age. At the age of one, one multiplies the actual sum by 145,000, making one pound seem like 145,000 pounds to a one-year-old. At seven – Bertie's age – the multiplier is 24, so that five pounds seems like 120 pounds. At the age of twenty four, five pounds is five pounds; at forty five it is divided by 5, so that it seems like one pound and one pound seems like twenty pence. {All figures courtesy of Scottish Government Advice Leaflet: Handling your Money.}
by Alexander McCall Smith
In fact, none of us knows how he ever managed to get his LLB in the first place. Maybe they're putting law degrees in cornflakes boxes these days.
by Alexander McCall Smith
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
by Mitch Albom
Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
by Mitch Albom
You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
by Mitch Albom
we get so many lives between birth and death. A life to be a child. A life to come of age. A life to wander, to settle, to fall in love, to parent, to test our promise, to realize our mortality-and, in some lucky cases, to do something after that realization.
by Mitch Albom
Where there's bluster, thinks Luisa, there's duplicity
by David Mitchell
I have the tendency to be nervous at the sight of trouble looming. As the danger draws near, I become less nervous. When the peril is at hand, I swell with fierceness. As I grapple with my assailant, I am without fear and fight to the finish with little thought of injury.
by Jean Sasson