WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)

Dave — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:56:14 +0000

At the hour of civilization through which we are now passing, and which is still so sombre, the miserable’s name is MAN; he is agonizing in all climes, and he is groaning in all languages.

[À l’heure, si sombre encore, de la civilisation où nous sommes, le misérable s’appelle L’HOMME; il agonise sous tous les climats, et il gémit dans toutes les langues.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)
(Source)

(Source (French)). Daeli was the publisher of the Italian translation of Les Misérables.

Smith, Red -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 22:33:43 +0000

You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.

Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905-1982) American sportswriter, journalist
(Attributed)

Attributed in Water Winchell, in his syndicated column (1949-04-06):

Red Smith was asked if turning out a daily column wasn't quite a chore ... "Why, no," deadpanned Red. "You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed."

In an article (1969-09-01), "The Press: Good Sports," Time magazine, this variant attributed to Smith was given (in an allusion to the Bible, Luke 22:44):

“Writing a column is easy,” he once said. “You just sit at your typewriter until little drops of blood appear on your forehead.”

This quotation, and many variants, have a hotly contested ledger of attributions and misattributions. The metaphor of blood and bleeding as part of the painful, personal creative process resonates with many writers. Variations are attributed to Ernest Hemmingway, Thomas Wolfe, Gene Fowler, Paul Gallico, Jeff MacNelly, and more, some with justification, others spurious.

Some variants:

Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.
There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Writing is easy. Just put a piece of paper in the typewriter and start bleeding.

Discussion about and research into this quotation:

Sarton, May -- Journal of a Solitude, “May 28th” (1973)

Dave — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 18:29:23 +0000

Clutter is what silts up exactly like silt in a flowing stream when the current, the free flow of the mind, is held up by an obstruction. I spent four hours in Keene yesterday getting the car inspected and two new tires put on, also finding a few summer blouses. The mail; has accumulated in a fearful way, so I have a huge disorderly pile of stuff to be answered on my desk. In the end what kills is not agony (for agony at least asks something of the soul) but everyday life.

May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
Journal of a Solitude, “May 28th” (1973)
(Source)

Hurston, Zora Neale -- Dust Tracks on a Road, ch. 8 (1942)

Dave — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 20:50:39 +0000

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) American writer, folklorist, anthropologist
Dust Tracks on a Road, ch. 8 (1942)

Sometimes misattributed to Maya Angelou.