--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's a question of trying to take down by…" description: "\"It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's already there. I'm not making something, I'm trying to hear it.\" — Alice Oswald" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/alice-oswald-15385_dictation_it-s-a-question-of-trying-to-take-down-b_166945.png" --- # It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's… ![“It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's already there. I'm not making something, I'm trying to hear it.” quote by Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/alice-oswald-15385_dictation_it-s-a-question-of-trying-to-take-down-b_166945.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/alice-oswald-15385_dictation_it-s-a-question-of-trying-to-take-down-b_166945.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/alice-oswald-15385_dictation_it-s-a-question-of-trying-to-take-down-b_166945.png) > “It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's already there. I'm not making something, I'm trying to hear it.” [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creation is listening to what already exists rather than imposing one's own will. **In simple terms:** Listen to the existing truth before shaping it. Key Takeaway Seek to hear before you make. Themes creativity listening authenticity process Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing - musical composition - design - problem solving Key Concepts phenomenology mindful creation intuition Questions to Reflect On - What is already present that you need to hear? - How does listening change your creative outcome? A Different Perspective Focusing on listening can delay decisive action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Truth Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-seeking/) ## Related quotes > [“Joaquin, who had torn off his headset to jump from the truck, put his ear on Tony's chest, trying to hear his heart or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/joaquin-who-had-torn-off-his-headset-to-jump-from-the-truck-put-his/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“We all have our own signals we're listening for, or trying not to hear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-elkin/we-all-have-our-own-signals-we-re-listening-for-or-trying-not-to-hear/) [Lauren Elkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-elkin/) > [“Do we still remember the question we are trying to answer? Or have we substituted an easier one?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/do-we-still-remember-the-question-we-are-trying-to-answer-or-have-we/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [“Behind every problem, there’s a question trying to ask itself. Behind every question, there’s an answer trying to reveal itself. Behind every answer, there’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/behind-every-problem-there-s-a-question-trying-to-ask-itself-behind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I usually have to find something where I go, "I have to do this." Sometimes you don't even know what the question you're trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lee-hancock/i-usually-have-to-find-something-where-i-go-i-have-to-do-this/) [John Lee Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lee-hancock/) > [There's lots and lots of guys out there. The question is trying to find the right one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-harford/there-s-lots-and-lots-of-guys-out-there-the-question-is-trying-to/) [Tim Harford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-harford/) > [War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse… Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/war-is-an-evil-thing-but-to-submit-to-the-dictation-of-other-states/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Nail polish or false eyelashes isn't politics. If you have good politics, what you wear is irrelevant. I don't take dictation from the pig-o-cratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florynce-kennedy/nail-polish-or-false-eyelashes-isn-t-politics-if-you-have-good/) [Florynce Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florynce-kennedy/) > [I never exactly made a book. It's rather like taking dictation. 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My first entries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/i-wrote-before-i-could-write-i-got-my-hands-on-a-journal-maybe-a-hand/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [You can't sort of write the novel as if you're taking dictation from heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/you-can-t-sort-of-write-the-novel-as-if-you-re-taking-dictation-from/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [Is not the real experience of each individual very limited? 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The structure of either the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-think-it-is-the-easiest-mentality-for-a-human-being-to-be-either/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Wind ought to be a verb or an adverb. It isn't really anything. It's a manner of movement of warmth and cold: a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/wind-ought-to-be-a-verb-or-an-adverb-it-isn-t-really-anything-it-s-a/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [People are so used to reading novels now, they just read a poem straight through to get the meaning. And that's something totally different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/people-are-so-used-to-reading-novels-now-they-just-read-a-poem/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Topsoil is a place of digestion. It sucks and chews things into smaller pieces. 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It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/at-each-moment-a-poem-might-grow-into-a-totally-different-shape-it-is/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [If you put a real leaf and a silk leaf side by side, youll see something of the difference between Homers poetry and anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/if-you-put-a-real-leaf-and-a-silk-leaf-side-by-side-youll-see/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I think it's often assumed that the role of poetry is to comfort, but for me, poetry is the great unsettler. It questions the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-think-it-s-often-assumed-that-the-role-of-poetry-is-to-comfort-but/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [A living tree is a changing, sleeve shape, a wet, thin, bright green creature that survives in the thin layer between heartwood and bark.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/a-living-tree-is-a-changing-sleeve-shape-a-wet-thin-bright-green/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I stood looking down through the beech trees. When I threw a stone I could count to five before the splash. Then I jumped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-stood-looking-down-through-the-beech-trees-when-i-threw-a-stone-i/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Webs are made mostly of spaces. They break easily. They barely exist. They belong to the category of half-things: mist, smoke, shrouds, ghosts, membranes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/webs-are-made-mostly-of-spaces-they-break-easily-they-barely-exist/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [If you put a real leaf and a silk leaf side by side, you'll see something of the difference between Homer's poetry and anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/if-you-put-a-real-leaf-and-a-silk-leaf-side-by-side-you-ll-see/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [When I was 16, I was taught by a wonderful teacher who let me ignore the Greek syllabus and just read Homer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/when-i-was-16-i-was-taught-by-a-wonderful-teacher-who-let-me-ignore/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) [Explore all 43 Alice Oswald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) ## More Dictation quotes > [War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse… Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/war-is-an-evil-thing-but-to-submit-to-the-dictation-of-other-states/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [I wrote before I could write. I got my hands on a journal, maybe a hand-me-down; I had three older siblings. My first entries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/i-wrote-before-i-could-write-i-got-my-hands-on-a-journal-maybe-a-hand/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [You can't sort of write the novel as if you're taking dictation from heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/you-can-t-sort-of-write-the-novel-as-if-you-re-taking-dictation-from/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I have a feeling that art is something you do for yourself, and that any time you turn your decisions over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/i-have-a-feeling-that-art-is-something-you-do-for-yourself-and-that/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [Is not the real experience of each individual very limited? And, if a writer dwells upon that solely or principally, is he not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/is-not-the-real-experience-of-each-individual-very-limited-and-if-a/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [ \[The married woman is\] is a bonded slave, who takes her master's name, her master's bread, and serves her master's passion; \[and\] who passes… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltairine-de-cleyre/the-married-woman-is-is-a-bonded-slave-who-takes-her-master-s-name/) [Voltairine de Cleyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltairine-de-cleyre/) > [I'm a situational writer. You give me a situation, like a writer gets in a car crash, breaks his leg, is kidnapped by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-m-a-situational-writer-you-give-me-a-situation-like-a-writer-gets-2/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I never exactly made a book. It's rather like taking dictation. I was given things to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-never-exactly-made-a-book-it-s-rather-like-taking-dictation-i-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nail polish or false eyelashes isn't politics. If you have good politics, what you wear is irrelevant. I don't take dictation from the pig-o-cratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florynce-kennedy/nail-polish-or-false-eyelashes-isn-t-politics-if-you-have-good/) [Florynce Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florynce-kennedy/) > [What is Americanism? Every one has a different answer. Some people say it is never to submit to the dictation of a King. Others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-howard-shaw/what-is-americanism-every-one-has-a-different-answer-some-people-say/) [Anna Howard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-howard-shaw/) > [Sometimes the impressions are just general feelings. Sometimes the direction comes so clearly and so unmistakably that it can be written down like spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/sometimes-the-impressions-are-just-general-feelings-sometimes-the/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [The best, most natural dialogue is usually written as if the writer is listening to dictation. You might get stuck on any particular point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-best-most-natural-dialogue-is-usually-written-as-if-the-writer-is/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I would love to employ a man, but how can I possibly give a man dictation from the bath?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-cartland/i-would-love-to-employ-a-man-but-how-can-i-possibly-give-a-man/) [Barbara Cartland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-cartland/) > [“Do Not Dictate a Child through Someone, it Ruins the Child's Experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vineet-raj-kapoor/do-not-dictate-a-child-through-someone-it-ruins-the-child-s-experience/) [Vineet Raj Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vineet-raj-kapoor/) > [I think it is natural that every country has to take care of its interests, but there are some interests that are common to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-think-it-is-natural-that-every-country-has-to-take-care-of-its/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) Browse all 42 Dictation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's already there. 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