Life according to Ernest Hemingway


By Samra Khawaja
Ernest Hemingway sitting at a table and writing.
Ernest Hemingway. Photo source: L'Isola D'Oro/Flickr Creative Commons
Ernest “Papa” Hemingway, known as one of the great American 20th century novelists, can also be remembered as a man who chased adventure. When he wasn’t writing, he was hunting game in Africa, bullfighting in Spain, and deep-sea fishing in Florida. The author won a Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea, which became one of his most famous books. A few years later, he claimed the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature. As we celebrate what would’ve been Hemingway’s 117th birthday today, here are a collection of quotes from the author himself, on a few key things to remember while chasing the thrill in life.
Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.
That is what we are supposed to do when we are at our best – make it all up – but make it up so truly that later it will happen that way.
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
If something is wrong, fix it. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing.
There is no friend as loyal as a book.
It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.