--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is harrowing for me to try to teach…" description: "\"It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit sm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d09/barbara-kingsolver-200_being-wise_it-is-harrowing-for-me-to-try-to-teach-2_580138.png" --- # It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old… ![“It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d09/barbara-kingsolver-200_being-wise_it-is-harrowing-for-me-to-try-to-teach-2_580138.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d09/barbara-kingsolver-200_being-wise_it-is-harrowing-for-me-to-try-to-teach-2_580138.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d09/barbara-kingsolver-200_being-wise_it-is-harrowing-for-me-to-try-to-teach-2_580138.png) > “It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching young adults writing feels overwhelming; the advice uses humor to stress patience and long‑term growth. **In simple terms:** Writing teaching is hard; humor suggests patience and longevity. Key Takeaway Embrace patience and focus on long‑term development. Themes education writing patience humor Mood reflective lighthearted Type advice humorous When to use this quote - college classrooms - creative writing workshops - mentoring programs - personal development - career counseling Key Concepts pedagogy lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster patience in students? - What long‑term habits support writing growth? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay the seriousness of the challenges faced by students. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Getting old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-old/) [Improve Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improve-writing-1475708/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Odds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/) [Old enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-enough/) [Quit smoking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quit-smoking/) [Quitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quitting/) [Smoking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoking/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teach 20](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-20-4770241/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Try Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-teach-296112/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-best-399463/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/quit-smoking-and-observe-posted-speed-limits-this-will-improve-your/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [You cannot teach somebody to write a masterpiece, but you can certainly teach them how to improve their writing skills. And you can teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/you-cannot-teach-somebody-to-write-a-masterpiece-but-you-can/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [If you want to be good at anything, you have to work hard at it. It doesn't just fall from the sky. I work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pj-harvey/if-you-want-to-be-good-at-anything-you-have-to-work-hard-at-it-it/) [PJ Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pj-harvey/) > [By elevating your reading, you will improve your writing or at least tickle your thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/by-elevating-your-reading-you-will-improve-your-writing-or-at-least/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [“Setting is the soul of your story...Improve upon it, and it will take your writing to the next level.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ridley/setting-is-the-soul-of-your-story-improve-upon-it-and-it-will-take/) [Richard Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ridley/) > [Improve writing skills: 1. Keep paragraphs short. 2. Use bold and CAPS to make points. 3. Start with a question or short statement. 4.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gitomer/improve-writing-skills-1-keep-paragraphs-short-2-use-bold-and-caps-to/) [Jeffrey Gitomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gitomer/) > [Twitter makes you improve your writing, The 140 character limit forces you to master the art of getting to the point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/twitter-makes-you-improve-your-writing-the-140-character-limit-forces/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Quit smoking in the hope of growing old. It takes a long time to write. People go to books for wisdom and older authors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/quit-smoking-in-the-hope-of-growing-old-it-takes-a-long-time-to-write/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I try to teach my kids to be open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-banderas/i-try-to-teach-my-kids-to-be-open/) [Antonio Banderas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-banderas/) > [We try to teach women how to be strong, how to believe in themselves, how to make themselves happy, as opposed to pleasing someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lopes/we-try-to-teach-women-how-to-be-strong-how-to-believe-in-themselves/) [Lisa Lopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lopes/) > [I try to teach my heart not to want things it can't have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-try-to-teach-my-heart-not-to-want-things-it-can-t-have/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [I think people should try to teach young children that these qualities - stubbornness and a capacity to listen - might look like they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renzo-piano/i-think-people-should-try-to-teach-young-children-that-these/) [Renzo Piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renzo-piano/) > [Find a good teacher, as I found for my sons. I feel the worst thing you can do is to try and teach your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-emerson/find-a-good-teacher-as-i-found-for-my-sons-i-feel-the-worst-thing-you/) [Keith Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-emerson/) > [How hard would it be to ask children what they see in their heads? How big should the house be in comparison to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/how-hard-would-it-be-to-ask-children-what-they-see-in-their-heads-how/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [What I like to think I've done is try to teach all women and my three female daughters, to teach them to rise above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joely-fisher/what-i-like-to-think-i-ve-done-is-try-to-teach-all-women-and-my-three/) [Joely Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joely-fisher/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Being wise quotes > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be smart, spend carefully. To be wise, save regularly. To be genius, give extravagantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-ingram/to-be-smart-spend-carefully-to-be-wise-save-regularly-to-be-genius/) [Chip Ingram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-ingram/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/acknowledging-foolishness-is-a-very-powerful-and-important-experience/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/deign-on-the-passing-world-to-turn-thine-eyes-and-pause-awhile-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I feel I want to be wise with white hair in a tall library in a deep chair by a fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/i-feel-i-want-to-be-wise-with-white-hair-in-a-tall-library-in-a-deep/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberley-strassel/were-anyone-wondering-how-sen-harry-reid-intended-to-manage-life-in/) [Kimberley Strassel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberley-strassel/) > [If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/if-we-are-going-to-be-wise-spiritual-people-prepared-to-meet-the/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [Literature provides us with experiences it would not be wise or possible to introduce into our own world and thus enlarges our understanding of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rosenblatt/literature-provides-us-with-experiences-it-would-not-be-wise-or/) [Louise Rosenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rosenblatt/) > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The goal of a passionate artist is to try and make a masterpiece each and every time, yet be wise enough to know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-giancola/the-goal-of-a-passionate-artist-is-to-try-and-make-a-masterpiece-each/) [Donato Giancola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donato-giancola/) > [License they mean when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/license-they-mean-when-they-cry-liberty-for-who-loves-that-must-first/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [It almost seems as though this roiling world is conspiring to test our patience at every turn. In fact, it is. With this in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-almost-seems-as-though-this-roiling-world-is-conspiring-to-test/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's always better to be wise than to be smart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/it-s-always-better-to-be-wise-than-to-be-smart/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) [Browse all 310 Being wise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. 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