Stein, Gertrude
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) is one of the most significant writers of the early twentieth century. Though some consider her writing incoherent, others view it as a singular voice. Stein lived most of her life in Europe, where she, her brother (Leo Stein), and her partner, Alice B. Toklas, opened their apartment as a salon for artists and writers. They also amassed an important art collection.
Her poems were unlike any others—each almost like a piece of abstract art to experience throughout the senses. Stein’s most popular work was The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, which is written through Alice’s point of view. Aside from poetry and novels, Stein also wrote plays, operas, and gave many lectures.
Major Works
- Three Lives
- Tender Buttons
- The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
- Everybody’s Autobiography
- The Making of Americans
- Ida
Biographies about Gertrude Stein
- Gertrude and Alice by Diana Souhami
- Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures by Renate Stendhal
- Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Her Circle by James R. Mellow
More Information
Visit Gertrude Stein
- Gertrude Stein and Alive B. Toklas Papers – Yale University, New Haven, CT
Gertrude Stein Quotes
“You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery, which is to say that creation must take place between the pen and the paper, not before in a thought or afterwards in a recasting… It will come if it is there and if you will let it come.”
“It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much, doing nothing, really doing nothing.”
“Writing and reading is to me synonymous with existing.”
“A writer should write with his eyes and a painter paint with his ears.”
“I have been the creative literary mind of the century.”
“We are always the same age inside.”
“Silent gratitude isn’t very much use to anyone.”
“Let me listen to me and not to them.”
“You look ridiculous if you dance. You look ridiculous when you don’t dance. So you might as well dance.”
“To write is to write is to write is to write is to write…”
“I certainly do care for you – less than you are always thinking, and much more than you are ever knowing.”
