“The one thing that deeply pleases me in my literary life—brief and inglorious as it is—is the fact that men of sense believe me to be sincere.”

Valuing the recognition of sincerity above fame or sales · Letter, circa 1895–96 (to a friend, published 1900)

• Integrity
• Literature
• Sincerity

“Personally I am aware that my work does not amount to a string of dried beans—I always calmly admit it. But I also know that I do the best that is in me, without regard to cheers or damnation.”

Combining self-deprecation with quiet determination to persist · Letter, circa 1895–96 (to a friend, published 1900)

• Humility
• Persistence
• Work

“I wonder that some of those fellows don’t tell how they felt in those scraps. They spout enough of what they did, but they’re as emotionless as rocks.”

Criticising factual war narratives for ignoring psychological experience · Remark on Civil War accounts (attested by contemporaries)

• Emotion
• War
• Writing