“At one time I thought the most important thing was talent. I think now that — the young man or the young woman must possess or teach himself, train himself, in infinite patience, which is to try and to try and to try until it comes right. He must train himself in ruthless intolerance. That is, to throw away anything that is false no matter how much he might love that page or that paragraph. The most important thing is insight, that is ... curiosity to wonder, to mull, and to muse why it is that man does what he does. And if you have that, then I don't think the talent makes much difference, whether you've got that or not.]”

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About William Faulkner

American writer

William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer, known for his novels and short stories. He lived most of his life in Mississippi and wrote much of his work around the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, a version of Lafayette County. He won the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. His fiction is closely associated with the American South, and he is widely regarded as a major figure in 20th-century literature.

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Books by William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury

2020

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Sanctuary

1966

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Soldiers' pay

1996

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Absalom, Absalom!

1966

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As I Lay Dying

1996

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