Gertrude Stein Quotes

American author (1874–1946)

Add quote

Gertrude Stein (3 February 1874 – 27 July 1946) was an American expatriate writer, poet, feminist, and playwright, who lived most of her life in Europe. She is remembered for her "flow-of-thought" and sometimes "cyclical" or "circular" manner of expressing things.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alternative Names: Gertruda Stein • Gertruda Staĭn

From Wikidata (CC0)

Showing quotes in randomized order to avoid selection bias. Click Popular for most popular quotes.

She took us to see her granddaughter who was teaching in the Dominican convent in San Raphael, we went across the bay on a ferry, that had not changed but Goat Island might just as well not have been there, anyway what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there.

You have to know what you want to get it.

Nothing Elegant
Gertrude Stein, 1874 - 1946

A charm a single charm is doubtful. If the red is rose and there is a gate surrounding it, if inside is let in and there places change then certainly something is upright. It is earnest.

Politeness does not interfere with facts, politeness is just another fact.

A little artist has all the tragic unhappiness and the sorrows of a great artist and he is not a great artist.

The creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic.

Love is the skillful audacity required to share an inner life

Let me recite what history teaches. History teaches.

What is a nail. A nail is unison.

A saint is one to be for two when three and you make five and two and cover. A at most. Saint saint a saint.

When General Osborne came to see me just after the victory, he asked me what I thought should be done to educate the Germans. I said there is only one thing to be done and that is to teach them disobedience, as long as they are obedient so long sooner or later they will be ordered about by a bad man and there will be trouble. Teach them disobedience, I said, make every German child know that it is its duty at least once a day to do its good deed and not believe something its father or its teacher tells them, confuse their minds, get their minds confused and perhaps then they will be disobedient and the world will be at peace. The obedient peoples go to war, disobedient people like peace, that is the reason that Italy did not really become a good Axis, the people were not obedient enough, the Japs and the Germans are the only really obedient people on earth and see what happens, teach them disobedience, confuse their minds, teach them disobedience, and the world can be peaceful. General Osborne shook his head sadly, you'll never make the heads of an army understand that.

Pigeons on the grass alas.
Pigeons on the grass alas.
Short longer grass short longer longer shorter yellow grass.
Pigeons large pigeons on the shorter longer yellow grass alas pigeons on the grass.

America is my country, and Paris is my home town.

If you can't say anything nice about anyone else, come sit next to me.

I write for myself and strangers.