---
title: "1 Writing Heart Quotes By J.D. Salinger"
description: "1 Writing Heart quotes by J.D. Salinger. Plus more from J.D. Salinger and more Writing Heart sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png"
---

> [“You wrote down that you were a writer by profession. It sounded to me like the loveliest euphemism I had ever heard. When was writing ever your profession? It's never been anything but your religion. Never. I'm a little over-excited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by-profession-it-sounded-to-me/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png)

## More by J.D. Salinger

> [“I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all… I'm standing on the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-keep-picturing-all-these-little-kids-playing-some-game-in-this-big/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“If you're a poet, you do something beautiful. I mean you're supposed to leave something beautiful after you get off the page and everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/if-you-re-a-poet-you-do-something-beautiful-i-mean-you-re-supposed-to/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was… The only thing that would be different would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-best-thing-though-in-that-museum-was-that-everything-always/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“And you make people nervous, young man," she said - most equably, for her. "You either take to somebody or you don't. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-you-make-people-nervous-young-man-she-said-most-equably-for-her/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“I still think that, in a way, I can't get past half my childhood dogmas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-still-think-that-in-a-way-i-can-t-get-past-half-my-childhood-dogmas/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“He stuck around till around dinnertime, talking about all the guys at Pencey that he hated their guts, and squeezing this big pimple on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/he-stuck-around-till-around-dinnertime-talking-about-all-the-guys-at/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“For example, when Seymour told one of the twins or Zooey or Franny or even Mme. Boo Boo (who was only two years younger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/for-example-when-seymour-told-one-of-the-twins-or-zooey-or-franny-or/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“One thing? One thing I like? Okay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/one-thing-one-thing-i-like-okay/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“The cigars are ballast, sweetheart. Sheer ballast. If he didn’t have a cigar to hold on to, his feet would leave the ground. We’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-cigars-are-ballast-sweetheart-sheer-ballast-if-he-didn-t-have-a/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/they-re-just-people-that-write-poems-that-get-published-and/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“In certain Zen monasteries, it's a cardinal rule, if not the only serious enforced discipline, that when one monk calls out 'Hi!' to another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/in-certain-zen-monasteries-it-s-a-cardinal-rule-if-not-the-only/)

[j.d. salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“And I hate to tell you... but I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-i-hate-to-tell-you-but-i-think-that-once-you-have-a-fair-idea/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [“Hi,' he said. He always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired. He didn't want you to think he was visiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/hi-he-said-he-always-said-it-like-he-was-terrifically-bored-or/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [ “\[Y\]ou’re someone who took up birds in the first place because they fired your imagination; they fascinated you because ‘they seemed of all created… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/y-ou-re-someone-who-took-up-birds-in-the-first-place-because-they/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Writing Heart Quotes By J.D. Salinger",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“You wrote down that you were a writer by profession. It sounded to me like the loveliest euphemism I had ever heard. When was writing ever your profession? It's never been anything but your religion. Never. I'm a little over-excited now. Since it is your religion, do you know what you will be asked when you die? But let me tell you first what you won't be asked. You won't be asked if you were working on a wonderful moving piece of writing when you died. You won't be asked if it was long or short, sad or funny, published or unpublished. You won't be asked if you were in good or bad form while you were working on it. You won't even be asked if it was the one piece of writing you would have been working on if you had known your time would be up when it was finished--I think only poor Soren K. will get asked that. I'm so sure you'll get asked only two questions.' Were most of your stars out? Were you busy writing your heart out? If only you knew how easy it would be for you to say yes to both questions. If only you'd remember before ever you sit down to write that you've been a reader long before you were ever a writer. You simply fix that fact in your mind, then sit very still and ask yourself, as a reader, what piece of writing in all the world Buddy Glass would most want to read if he had his heart's choice. The next step is terrible, but so simple I can hardly believe it as I write it. You just sit down shamelessly and write the thing yourself. I won't even underline that. It's too important to be underlined. Oh, dare to do it, Buddy ! Trust your heart. You're a deserving craftsman. It would never betray you.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "J.D. Salinger"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by-profession-it-sounded-to-me/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“You wrote down that you were a writer by profession. It sounded to me like the loveliest euphemism I had…” — J.D. Salinger",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/",
            "name": "Writing Heart Quotes by J.D. Salinger",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/j-d-salinger-560_ask-yourself_you-wrote-down-that-you-were-a-writer-by_1868424.png"
            },
            "description": "1 Writing Heart quotes by J.D. Salinger. Plus more from J.D. Salinger and more Writing Heart sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Writing Heart",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "J.D. Salinger",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-heart/j-d-salinger/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```