--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have written letters that are failures…" description: "\"I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/amy-hempel-6636_asking_i-have-written-letters-that-are-failures_3230442.jpg" --- # I have written letters that are failures, but I have… ![“I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition…” quote by Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/amy-hempel-6636_asking_i-have-written-letters-that-are-failures_3230442.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/amy-hempel-6636_asking_i-have-written-letters-that-are-failures_3230442.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/amy-hempel-6636_asking_i-have-written-letters-that-are-failures_3230442.jpg) > “I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition is: Put your cards on the table.” [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing honest letters reveals truth, while lies conceal it; repeated questioning seeks authenticity. **In simple terms:** Honest writing reveals truth. Key Takeaway Seek truth through sincere communication. Themes truth communication authenticity Mood introspective serious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal letters - confessional writing - therapeutic journaling - creative process Key Concepts literary honesty self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How does honesty affect trust? A Different Perspective Truth can be painful and may damage relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) ## Related quotes > [Let us begin this letter, this prelude to an encounter, formally, as a declaration, in the old-fashioned way: I love you. You do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/let-us-begin-this-letter-this-prelude-to-an-encounter-formally-as-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Sacrifice” and “self” both begin with the same letter, but the spelling is way different after that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/sacrifice-and-self-both-begin-with-the-same-letter-but-the-spelling/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“And this? Aldhelm of Malmesbury. Listen to this page: 'Primitus pantorum procerum poematorum pio potissimum paternoque presertim privilegio panegiricum poemataque passim prosatori sub polo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/and-this-aldhelm-of-malmesbury-listen-to-this-page-primitus-pantorum/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“So freedom lies, not in trying to become something different, nor in doing whatever you happen to feel like doing, nor in following the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/so-freedom-lies-not-in-trying-to-become-something-different-nor-in/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“That was the secret to maintaining lies: not trying to hide them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/that-was-the-secret-to-maintaining-lies-not-trying-to-hide-them/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [“Being human beings is not a responsibility we can avoid, but we can, and do, tell an awful lot of lies in trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ndor-m-rai/being-human-beings-is-not-a-responsibility-we-can-avoid-but-we-can/) [Sándor Márai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ndor-m-rai/) > [A lot of the fun lies in trying to penetrate the mystery; and this is best done by saying over the lines to yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/a-lot-of-the-fun-lies-in-trying-to-penetrate-the-mystery-and-this-is/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Thus they went on living in a reality that was slipping away, momentarily captured by words, but which would escape irremediably when they forgot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/thus-they-went-on-living-in-a-reality-that-was-slipping-away/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“I’d like to return to prose after a fifteen-year hiatus. 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Brian read from his. Jim wrote, 'Be good… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroll-spinney/jim-henson-had-written-letters-to-his-five-children-to-be-opened-only/) Caroll Spinney > [“Somewhat overly legibly, I wrote on a sheet of paper, "We're held up indefinitely by the parade. We're going to find a phone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/somewhat-overly-legibly-i-wrote-on-a-sheet-of-paper-we-re-held-up/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) ## More by Amy Hempel > [Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/good-leaders-being-scarce-following-yourself-is-allowed/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Since his mother died I have seen him steam a cucumber thinking it was zucchini. That's the kind of thing that turns my heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/since-his-mother-died-i-have-seen-him-steam-a-cucumber-thinking-it/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“A story happens when two equally appealing forces, or characters, or ideas try to occupy the same place at the same time, and they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/a-story-happens-when-two-equally-appealing-forces-or-characters-or/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“It is such a pretty story, told to me by a Cuban woman I met in a bar at the beach. She left the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/it-is-such-a-pretty-story-told-to-me-by-a-cuban-woman-i-met-in-a-bar/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one. 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Her wish, she told her daughter, was to be a beautiful woman and surprise people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/mrs-linden-was-beautiful-in-spirit-and-in-fact-her-wish-she-told-her/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Then the children went to bed, or at least went upstairs, and the men joined the women for a cigarette on the porch, absently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/then-the-children-went-to-bed-or-at-least-went-upstairs-and-the-men/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“It comes back to the question, whom are you writing for? Who are the readers you want? Who are the people you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/it-comes-back-to-the-question-whom-are-you-writing-for-who-are-the/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [An idea might spark an essay, but never a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/an-idea-might-spark-an-essay-but-never-a-story/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [There’s so much I can’t read because I get so exasperated. Someone starts describing the character boarding the plane and pulling the seat back.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/there-s-so-much-i-can-t-read-because-i-get-so-exasperated-someone/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/the-year-i-began-to-say-vahz-instead-of-vase-a-man-i-barely-knew/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [I often feel the effects of people only after they leave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/i-often-feel-the-effects-of-people-only-after-they-leave-me/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“The psychic said I would have two children. This makes me shake my head. I know you are not supposed to leave a baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/the-psychic-said-i-would-have-two-children-this-makes-me-shake-my/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“I read about a famous mystery writer who worked for one week in a department store. One day she saw a woman come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/i-read-about-a-famous-mystery-writer-who-worked-for-one-week-in-a/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) [Explore all 93 Amy Hempel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) ## More Asking quotes > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Stop asking yourself how or why and tell yourself you can." - Charmainism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charmaine-smith-ladd/stop-asking-yourself-how-or-why-and-tell-yourself-you-can-charmainism/) [Charmaine Smith Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charmaine-smith-ladd/) > [Closing his eyes, he sent up a prayer to anyone who was listening, asking please, for God's sake, stop sending him signals that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/closing-his-eyes-he-sent-up-a-prayer-to-anyone-who-was-listening/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [If you're having a bad day already and everybody is just asking you petty questions, it drives people to the edge, or something really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-weixler/if-you-re-having-a-bad-day-already-and-everybody-is-just-asking-you/) [Jess Weixler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-weixler/) > [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I'm not asking people to feel sorry for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-abramoff/i-m-not-asking-people-to-feel-sorry-for-me/) [Jack Abramoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-abramoff/) > [The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-boldness-of-asking-deep-questions-may-require-unforeseen/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-were-people-asking-can-women-be-funny-people-still-ask-that-it/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' 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