--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A book is finished when it does not want…" description: "\"“A book is finished when it does not want me to work on it any longer...it reaches a point when it feels like it is literally avoiding me. I have a ver..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcc/ant-nio-lobo-antunes-16833_book_a-book-is-finished-when-it-does-not-want_1558525.jpg" --- # A book is finished when it does not want me to work on it… ![“A book is finished when it does not want me to work on it any longer...it reaches a point when it feels like it is literally avoiding me. I have a very physical relationship with the manuscript, almost a corps à corps. Paradoxically, when I finally feel at ease with a manuscript, with its voices…” quote by Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcc/ant-nio-lobo-antunes-16833_book_a-book-is-finished-when-it-does-not-want_1558525.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcc/ant-nio-lobo-antunes-16833_book_a-book-is-finished-when-it-does-not-want_1558525.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcc/ant-nio-lobo-antunes-16833_book_a-book-is-finished-when-it-does-not-want_1558525.jpg) > ““A book is finished when it does not want me to work on it any longer...it reaches a point when it feels like it is literally avoiding me. I have a very physical relationship with the manuscript, almost a corps à corps. Paradoxically, when I finally feel at ease with a manuscript, with its voices, I realize it is finished. I see a book as a living organism, with its own rules and will. What matters to me is to allow it to grow and to acquire an existence of its own. It’s as if the book uses me in order to come into existence, rather than being written.”” [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is a dialogue where the manuscript becomes a living being that guides the author to completion. **In simple terms:** A book finishes when it seems to act on its own. Key Takeaway Let the work develop its own life. Themes creativity process author‑text relationship Mood introspective passionate Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - novel drafting - editing - creative blocks - literary workshops Key Concepts organic writing authorial surrender textual agency Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when a manuscript is guiding you versus you forcing it? - What practices help you stay attuned to a text’s own rhythm? A Different Perspective The author may project personal feelings onto the text, obscuring objective critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I used to think that when I finished a book, I was finished with it. But it's like a wonderful Hydra. 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Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [Were I to await perfection, my book would never be finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/were-i-to-await-perfection-my-book-would-never-be-finished/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never really know the title of a book until it's finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wesley/i-never-really-know-the-title-of-a-book-until-it-s-finished/) [Mary Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wesley/) > [Goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished and the book has been closed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/goodbyes-hurt-when-the-story-is-not-finished-and-the-book-has-been/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What I hate the most is when you realize your almost finished a book: like a good who’s balloon puts I fuss over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-a-fostars/what-i-hate-the-most-is-when-you-realize-your-almost-finished-a-book/) Eleanor A. 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I was drawn to the idea that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/i-was-very-interested-in-the-relationship-between-the-man-who-speaks/) [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [Physically it's kind of lassitude, the apathy and tiredness that precedes the flu or some other illness, or death. My legs ache and feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/physically-it-s-kind-of-lassitude-the-apathy-and-tiredness-that/) [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [Of all the doctors I have known, psychoanalysts, a congregation of lay priests with bible, rites, and the faithful, constitute the most sinister, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/of-all-the-doctors-i-have-known-psychoanalysts-a-congregation-of-lay/) [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [“I thought, Hatred is vital to good health, and I thought, To find ourselves in harmony with the world is a lethal infection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/i-thought-hatred-is-vital-to-good-health-and-i-thought-to-find/) [António Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [“Depois do 25 de Abril, por exemplo, tornámo-nos todos democratas. Não nos tornámos democratas por acreditar-mos na democracia, por odiarmos a guerra colonial, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/depois-do-25-de-abril-por-exemplo-torn-mo-nos-todos-democratas-n-o/) [António Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [Asylums are nothing more than gardens of human cabbages, of miserable, grotesque, repugnant human beings watered with the fertilizer of injections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/asylums-are-nothing-more-than-gardens-of-human-cabbages-of-miserable/) [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [“Tanto ruído no interior deste silêncio: são as vozes dos outros a falarem em mim, pessoas de quem gostei, pessoas que perdi, gente que…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/tanto-ru-do-no-interior-deste-sil-ncio-s-o-as-vozes-dos-outros-a/) [António Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [“Só sirvo para te escutares”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/s-sirvo-para-te-escutares/) [António Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) > [A long time ago, I read in a book that a woman's homeland is wherever she fell in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/a-long-time-ago-i-read-in-a-book-that-a-woman-s-homeland-is-wherever/) [Antonio Lobo Antunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) [Explore all 22 Antonio Lobo Antunes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-lobo-antunes/) ## More Book 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/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A book is finished when it does not want me to work on it any longer...it reaches a point when it feels like it is literally avoiding me. 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