#292 | Great Literary Quotes #3: Larry McMurtry on Courage, Fear, and Confidence
Quick SUMMARY:
Douglas Vigliotti explores a powerful quote from Larry McMurtry’s epic Western “Lonesome Dove” from episode #264, highlighting the importance of action over thinking and drawing connections to personal mantras and philosophical ideas about courage, fear, and confidence. More broadly, “Lonesome Dove” is a rare novel that focuses on male friendship and bonding, blending themes like adventure, loyalty, shame, guilt, loss, and love. Vigliotti calls it the “definitive novel” for every man—meaning, it’s a hands-down, must-read-before-you-die book.
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TOPICS COVERED IN THE EPISODE:
Introduction & Newsletter Reminder (00:09) - Host introduces the podcast, mentions the Great Literary Quotes series, and promotes the companion newsletter.
Why Lonesome Dove Matters (01:08) - Explains why "Lonesome Dove" is a top novel for men, focusing on its themes and male friendship.
Literature on Male Friendship (02:15) - Discusses the rarity of books centered on platonic male friendship and highlights "Lonesome Dove" for this reason.
Book Structure and Satisfying Ending (03:24) - Praises the novel’s gripping final pages and satisfying conclusion, setting up the featured quote.
Featured Quote and Its Meaning (04:36) - Shares and analyzes a quote about courage, decision-making, and the pitfalls of overthinking.
Experience vs. Overthinking (05:45) - Reflects on the value of action over thought, referencing Eastern philosophy and Aristotle’s view on courage.
Second Quote and Episode Wrap-Up (07:04) - Shares another quote from "Lonesome Dove," closes the episode, and provides contact and subscription information.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have another edition of Great Literary Quotes, and it is the third edition featuring a quote from Larry McMurtry from the classic novel “Lonesome Dove”. So I featured this book originally last year, so not that long ago, and I will share a little bit more about why I wanted to share this quote with you. Leading up to, of course, the quote. First, I wanted to remind all of the listeners out there, new listeners, especially of the companion newsletter that goes with this podcast. And that's just the once-a-month email that rounds up all of the episodes from that month, complete with full book and author information, all my favorite quotes, episode summaries, and additional book recommendations. So if that sounds like something that you are interested in, or perhaps you just want to sign up, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.
01:08 - All right. So, as I already mentioned, the quote that I'm going to share with you comes from “Lonesome Dove”. And this is a book that, when I read it, instantly catapulted into one of my top novels of all time. If I created maybe a top ten list, maybe something I should do, considering I've never actually done it, this book would definitely be on it. I shared it, as I mentioned on the podcast last year, so it's relatively newer. But for men specifically, I'm not sure there's a better novel to start with, and I titled that episode from last year “the definitive novel for every man”, and I still believe that. I will, of course, link to that episode in the show notes, and you can get all the details there about the book and story, but you should know that it covers so many incredibly deep themes like adventure, loss, love, loyalty, sacrifice, shame, and guilt. And I think even more importantly, the reason why the book is so important is that it also tackles friendship and specifically male friendship, and there's just not that many books that do that.
02:15 - It's a great piece of literature about that topic, and I will actually be sharing another book soon on the podcast, and I won't spoil it now that many consider to be the pinnacle of literature when it comes to friendship. It's just something that I've been thinking a lot about lately, because if you really stop and think about it, there's not that much on friendship, and it's more focused on either romance or family. Not to say that friendship isn't in a lot of the works, and I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there saying, well, what about this book? What about that book? But books that just center on and focus on a purely platonic relationship and all of the challenges as well as benefits of those types of relationships, and “Lonesome Dove”, specifically. While it isn't solely based on friendship, it centers around a friendship between the two main characters, Gus and Call. It has all of that other stuff baked into it, as well as I alluded to just moments ago. Thematically, I mean, and again, in the actual episode, you could listen to all of my thoughts on the book.
03:24 - So if you want, go listen to that. I will say that for a long book. It finishes extremely well. So that last hundred, 150 pages, is totally gripping and immersive, as well as tying a bow on everything. So it gives you a really satisfying feeling. Like I just did something. I just read a story, you know? And that is something that I always appreciate. And towards the back of the book, there's a short quote that I'm going to be sharing with you now, which is the internal thought process of one of those main characters, Call. And I think it could be viewed metaphorically for all of our lives. And it hits on something that I've shared on this podcast before. And if you're a regular listener, you might recognize it. But before I get into all of that, let me share the quote that comes from page 716, in the version that I read. McMurtry writes: “It wasn't rational to think of driving cattle over 80 waterless miles, but he had learned in his years of tracking Indians that things which seemed impossible often weren't. They only became so if one thought about them too much. So that fear took over. The thing to do was go.”
04:44 - So again, this is Call debating a decision that he has to make that does not appear logical, but feels emotionally like the right thing to do. So I forgot what episode. I shared a mantra with you in one that I say to myself all the time, and it's, “Be or do, don't think.” And that mantra has helped me in so many ways. And that's not to say it's easy to adhere to, but it's why I say it to myself all the time. It's a worthy goal and something to strive toward. Thinking for me only gets me in trouble, and I think that's what Call is saying here. You're going to learn and adapt, and you're going to trust the fact that you're going to utilize the experience you're about to embark on to inform the next decision that you make. All things that thinking cannot do because you are preventing yourself from acting, experience is the best teacher.
05:45 - I'm a firm believer in that, and it's my belief, mostly based on my interest and following of certain eastern philosophies, that thinking will ultimately kill you. It's the source of all suffering. It's the source of fear. And that is something that chronic thinkers, myself included, really have to battle with as you embark on life. And I think that this quote is very emblematic of you just need the courage to move forward, the courage to go and do the thing that is what's going to teach you. And there is no amount of logic that is going to make sense of it. It's just what you have to do. And in a way, it relates to an Aristotelian idea that courage is in. I'm paraphrasing him: the dance between fear and confidence. Fear is expected. Confidence is required if you have either one in too high a quantity. So, too much confidence or too much fear, you're dead. And it's my interpretation that thinking can lead you to either one of those two extremes. Whereas when you're just doing, you are riding the middle and you are being courageous.
07:04 - I do want to share one more quick quote from “Lonesome Dove”, because I think it applies to how I want to close out this episode here. And it's Gus speaking to call earlier in the novel. So they're in a conversation, and Gus says, “Wrong theory. Talks the way to kill it. Anything gets boring if you talk about it enough. Even death.” So on that note, I want to close out this episode and thank you so much for listening. Of course, if you're interested, go back and listen to the episode on “Lonesome Dove”, or perhaps just pick it up. Please remember to click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on, because it is the best way for new listeners to find the show and, in return, inspire more men to read. If you want to reach out to me, there are two ways to do so on Instagram: @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have or via my website: DouglasVigliotti.com. Maybe you want to check out my latest book, “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. In that case, head over to AristotleforNovelists.com. Last but not least, I wanted to thank you again for listening and remind you that if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for that newsletter I mentioned at the top of the episode, then all you have to do is visit the website BooksforMen.org.
