“Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl.”
- July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961
- American
- Novelist, poet, journalist
- Wrote masterpieces such as “The Old Man and the Sea,” “A Farewell to Arms,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954
Quote
“Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl.”
Explanation
In this quote, Hemingway compares the intimacy and privacy of certain personal activities—fishing and writing a letter to a loved one—and the intrusion one feels when someone is watching over your shoulder during those acts. Both activities require a sense of focus, personal engagement, and mental space, and the presence of an observer can make them feel unnatural or awkward. Hemingway is emphasizing how privacy enhances the authenticity of an experience, whether it’s the solitude required for fishing or the emotional openness needed when writing a letter to someone you care about. Just as having someone over your shoulder while writing can disrupt the honesty and flow of your thoughts, so can the presence of an observer during a more reflective or personal activity, like fishing, spoil the experience.
Hemingway, known for his love of solitude and privacy, often explored themes of personal space and the sanctity of intimate moments. His writing was deeply influenced by his need for mental space and the ability to think without interruption or external judgment. In his fiction, many characters seek moments of isolation or solitude—whether it’s Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea or Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls—to achieve clarity or to reconnect with themselves. The quote speaks to Hemingway’s belief that authenticity and true engagement with a task—whether it’s fishing, writing, or love—requires a sense of privacy free from external observation.
In the modern context, this quote speaks to the importance of personal space and autonomy in creative or intimate endeavors. Whether in a workplace, personal relationships, or artistic endeavors, the need for mental freedom and privacy is essential to allow for genuine expression and concentration. It can also relate to the modern intrusions of social media and constant connectivity, where many find themselves unable to write, create, or even think without the pressure of being watched or judged. Hemingway’s quote serves as a reminder that true focus and authenticity are best achieved when we can engage in activities without feeling the weight of an observer’s gaze.
