--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I love the fact publishers are still…" description: "\"I love the fact publishers are still publishing unprofitable material. It's a challenge to the powers that be. It's saying there is a real literature i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/alan-lightman-2270_books_i-love-the-fact-publishers-are-still-pub_2532388.jpg" --- # I love the fact publishers are still publishing… ![“I love the fact publishers are still publishing unprofitable material. It's a challenge to the powers that be. It's saying there is a real literature in this country and we will keep publishing it.” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/alan-lightman-2270_books_i-love-the-fact-publishers-are-still-pub_2532388.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/alan-lightman-2270_books_i-love-the-fact-publishers-are-still-pub_2532388.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/alan-lightman-2270_books_i-love-the-fact-publishers-are-still-pub_2532388.jpg) > “I love the fact publishers are still publishing unprofitable material. It's a challenge to the powers that be. It's saying there is a real literature in this country and we will keep publishing it.” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He celebrates publishing works that aren’t commercially viable, seeing it as a stand against market pressures and a defense of literary value. **In simple terms:** He values publishing for art over profit. Key Takeaway Support daring, non‑commercial literature. Themes literary activism market critique artistic integrity Mood hopeful defiant Type advocacy philosophical When to use this quote - small press decisions - author advocacy - library acquisitions - grant applications - literary festivals Key Concepts cultural economics publishing ethics independent voices Questions to Reflect On - What risks are worth taking in publishing? - How can readers help sustain non‑profit works? A Different Perspective Profitability pressures can limit risk‑taking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-publishing-1356223/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-country-888446/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Publishers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishers/) [Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-literature-544698/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [“The thing about the literature of any country is that it is a sort of climate that one breathes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fletcher-geniesse/the-thing-about-the-literature-of-any-country-is-that-it-is-a-sort-of/) [Jane Fletcher Geniesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fletcher-geniesse/) > [There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and leisure, it needs patience, perseverance, courage, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broadest-comedies-and-the-deepest/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I think about Chilean literature as a family, because I grew up reading the literature of my country. I feel like I have fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-zambra/i-think-about-chilean-literature-as-a-family-because-i-grew-up/) [Alejandro Zambra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-zambra/) > [If we can't stamp out literature in the country, we can at least stop its being brought in from outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-we-can-t-stamp-out-literature-in-the-country-we-can-at-least-stop/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life whichdoes not include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-naturalistic-literature-of-this-country-has-reached-such-a-state/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“Real literature, great literature, moves people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevien-shaabneh/real-literature-great-literature-moves-people/) [Nevien Shaabneh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevien-shaabneh/) > [Literature, real literature, must not be gulped down like some potion which may be good for the heart or good for the brain—the brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/literature-real-literature-must-not-be-gulped-down-like-some-potion/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Personal experience is the basis of all real literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/personal-experience-is-the-basis-of-all-real-literature/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [True colours are bright & true love is real but literature never mentioned that life is not a fairy-tale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colynx-mckobby-akwetey-jnr/true-colours-are-bright-true-love-is-real-but-literature-never/) [Colynx Mckobby Akwetey Jnr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colynx-mckobby-akwetey-jnr/) > [Real literature is something much better than a harmless instrument for getting through idle hours. The purpose of great literature is to help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/real-literature-is-something-much-better-than-a-harmless-instrument/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [The test of real literature is that it will bear repetition. We read over the same pages again and again, and always with fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-test-of-real-literature-is-that-it-will-bear-repetition-we-read/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Real literature, like travel, is always a surprise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-lurie/real-literature-like-travel-is-always-a-surprise/) [Alison Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-lurie/) > [Kindle Singles is publishing on skates. It prints like lightning; our book meets readers in hours. 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Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the-contemporary-universe-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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