A man must pretend not to be a writer.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- True writers may avoid the label to protect their work or avoid pretension.
- In plain terms
- Real writers often hide their identity to stay authentic.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid branding yourself to keep your work pure.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why might a writer hide their title?
- Does fame hurt creativity?
Another view
Public identity is often necessary to share work effectively.
More from William Saroyan
I am out here in the far West, in San Francisco, in a small room on Carl Street, writing a letter to common people, telling them in simple language what they a…
Permalink to quote #47 I cannot see the war as historians see it. Those clever fellows study all the facts and they see the war as a large thing, one of the biggest events in the leg…
Permalink to quote #49 If I have any desire at all, it is to show the brotherhood of man.
Permalink to quote #46
Related quotes
I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.
Judy GarlandJudy Garland quote #1 Writing...is an art; and artists...are human beings. As a human being stands, so a human being is....
E. E. CummingsE. E. Cummings quote #1 I regard criticism as an art, and if in this country and in this age it is practiced with honesty, it is no more remunerative than the work of an avant-garde f…
Pauline KaelPauline Kael quote #1