North was only a direction indicated by a compass--if a man had one, that is, for otherwise there was no north or south or east or west; there was only the brooding desolation. Shelby Foote More Quotes by Shelby Foote More Quotes From Shelby Foote People want to know why the South is so interested in the Civil War. I had maybe, it's a rough guess, about fifty fistfights in my life. Out of those fifty fistfights, the ones that I had the most vivid memory of were the ones I lost. I think that's one reason why the South remembers the war more than the North does. Shelby Foote lossmemorieswar The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things... It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads. Shelby Foote crossroadshellwar Before the war it was always the United States *are*, after the war it was the United States is... it made us an is. Shelby Foote united-stateswarhistory If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach you everything you need to know about writing. Shelby Foote teachingwritingneeds People make a grievous error thinking that a list of facts is the truth. Facts are just the bare bones out of which truth is made. Shelby Foote errorspeoplethinking When you grow up in a totally segregated society, where everybody around you believes that segregation is proper, you have a hard time. You can't believe how much it's a part of your thinking. Shelby Foote hard-timesgrowing-upbelieve The point I would make is that the novelist and the historian are seeking the same thing: the truth – not a different truth: the same truth – only they reach it, or try to reach it, by different routes. Whether the event took place in a world now gone to dust, preserved by documents and evaluated by scholarship, or in the imagination, preserved by memory and distilled by the creative process, they both want to tell us how it was: to re-create it, by their separate methods, and make it live again in the world around them. Shelby Foote dustimaginationmemories A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. Shelby Foote educationalreadingbook I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears. Shelby Foote boredperfectideas As a Southerner I would have to say that one of the main importances of the War is that Southerners have a sense of defeat which none of the rest of the country has. Shelby Foote warcountryhistory I think that everything you do helps you to write if you're a writer. Adversity and success both contribute largely to making you what you are. If you don't experience either one of those, you're being deprived of something. Shelby Foote adversitywritingthinking Generally the first week in September brings the hottest weather of the year, and this was no exception. Overhead the fans turned slow, their paddle blades stirring the air up close to the ceiling but nowheres else. Shelby Foote airweatheryears I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is a shortcut of the process. Shelby Foote shortcutsmistakethinking Longevity conquers scandal every time. Shelby Foote scandalconquertime I don't want anything to do with anything mechanical between me and the paper, including a typewriter, and I don't even want a fountain pen between me and the paper. Shelby Foote typewriterspaperwant But the same thing was true in the army. You slept in a barracks with all kinds of people of every nationality, every trade, every character and quality you can imagine, and that was a good experience. Shelby Foote armycharacterpeople A rich man's war and a poor man's fight. Shelby Foote fightingmenwar A fact is not a truth until you love it. Shelby Foote facts I used to write sonnets and various things, and moved from there into writing prose, which, incidentally, is a lot more interesting than poetry, including the rhythms of prose. Shelby Foote usedwritinginteresting Most of my inspiration, if that's the word, came from books themselves. Shelby Foote inspirationifsbook
