If you ever write a book, I hope you’ll be able to say this when you’re finished.
Here’s what Kurt Vonnegut said about finishing Slaughterhouse Five.
“I felt after I finished Slaughterhouse-Five that I didn’t have to write at all anymore if I didn’t want to. It was the end of some sort of career. I don’t know why, exactly. I suppose that flowers, when they’re through blooming, have some sort of awareness of some purpose having been served. Flowers didn’t ask to be flowers and I didn’t ask to be me. At the end of Slaughterhouse-Five…I had a shutting-off feeling…that I had done what I was supposed to do and everything was OK.”
Wouldn’t that be an awesome feeling to say about your career, your passion, your chosen profession?
It’s like when John Elway walked away after winning two straight Super Bowls for the Denver Broncos. He had nothing else to prove. His work was done.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Slaughterhouse Five, but I love this quote from Vonnegut. I don’t have that feeling of having “done what I was supposed to do” as a writer yet—and my guess is that you don’t either—but I hope we’ll both reach that point some day.
Great reminder from Kurt Vonnegut.
Sources: (Reddit, Google Books)
