--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the things that's complicated…" description: "\"One of the things that's complicated about writing anything is that it's an act of narcissism, and then of course once it sails out into the world, you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg" --- # One of the things that's complicated about writing… ![“One of the things that's complicated about writing anything is that it's an act of narcissism, and then of course once it sails out into the world, you have to let go of it.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg) > “One of the things that's complicated about writing anything is that it's an act of narcissism, and then of course once it sails out into the world, you have to let go of it.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## 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 inherently self‑focused, but once shared it must be released from the author’s control. **In simple terms:** Writing is selfish, then you let go. Key Takeaway Write, then release your work. Themes creativity ego letting go authorship Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - publishing - blogging - academic writing Key Concepts narcissism public reception detachment Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle criticism of your work? - What does release mean to you? A Different Perspective Letting go can be painful and risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Narcissism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narcissism/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The act of founding a company is its own act of narcissism: 'I alone can do this.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-dunn/the-act-of-founding-a-company-is-its-own-act-of-narcissism-i-alone/) [Andy Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-dunn/) > [The most difficult and complicated part of the writing process is the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-yehoshua/the-most-difficult-and-complicated-part-of-the-writing-process-is-the/) [A. B. Yehoshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-yehoshua/) > [I don't like making things too complicated when writing songs. I want to write in a very easy language that many people will understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-lafourcade/i-don-t-like-making-things-too-complicated-when-writing-songs-i-want/) [Natalia Lafourcade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-lafourcade/) > [Obviously this all gets tricky/complicated when your writing reveals so much of your private/intimate life, and the nature of writing on the Internet comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-calloway/obviously-this-all-gets-tricky-complicated-when-your-writing-reveals/) [Marie Calloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-calloway/) > [“1. Some people, Ranga, try to make things too complicated. One thing is not complicated. Two things are complicated, but not very complicated. Three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-b-g-burns/1-some-people-ranga-try-to-make-things-too-complicated-one-thing-is/) [Ian B.G. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-b-g-burns/) > [If you want to slice into America, it's pretty red, white, and blue in terms of how it goes about things, but there's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/if-you-want-to-slice-into-america-it-s-pretty-red-white-and-blue-in/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [“If I’m just The Guy With Norah, that’s cool. Right now, that’s all I want to be. All the other things I am—they’re too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/if-i-m-just-the-guy-with-norah-that-s-cool-right-now-that-s-all-i/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) > [“All the other things I am - they're too complicated. I can feel them lying in wait, planning their return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/all-the-other-things-i-am-they-re-too-complicated-i-can-feel-them/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/many-things-complicated-by-nature-are-restored-by-reason/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [I admire writers who can make complicated things simple, but my own talent has been to make simple things complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/i-admire-writers-who-can-make-complicated-things-simple-but-my-own/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Writing a memoir has a particularly excited sense of narcissism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/writing-a-memoir-has-a-particularly-excited-sense-of-narcissism/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Stop planning your life & let it plan itself Quit trying to find the perfect boy & let him find you If you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/stop-planning-your-life-let-it-plan-itself-quit-trying-to-find-the/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [If you think too much ahead, things get complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-dias/if-you-think-too-much-ahead-things-get-complicated/) [Ruben Dias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-dias/) > [Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avril-lavigne/why-do-you-have-to-go-and-make-things-so-complicated/) [Avril Lavigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avril-lavigne/) > [“Boys always make things more complicated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-abbott/boys-always-make-things-more-complicated/) [Katrina Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-abbott/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Complicated quotes > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) Marlin > [“Why the hell did he have to be so complicated? One minute he was charming, the next he withdrew behind his internal walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-davis/why-the-hell-did-he-have-to-be-so-complicated-one-minute-he-was/) [Lia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-davis/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [“Just because it's complicated, just because you think you can't ever know everything about another person, it doesn't mean you can't try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/just-because-it-s-complicated-just-because-you-think-you-can-t-ever/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [The one thing I absolutely hate about social media are the people who abuse it. Whenever I see a person who constantly posts negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-garcia/the-one-thing-i-absolutely-hate-about-social-media-are-the-people-who/) [Jazmin Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-garcia/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [Your Starbucks order is directly proportional to how complicated your personality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin/your-starbucks-order-is-directly-proportional-to-how-complicated-your/) [Kevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I have learned so much from my dad. Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned from my dad is how to be prepared at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sekulow/i-have-learned-so-much-from-my-dad-perhaps-the-biggest-thing-i-ve/) [Jay Sekulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sekulow/) > [The world is complicated and full of grays, but there's still truth there to be found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-world-is-complicated-and-full-of-grays-but-there-s-still-truth/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ The parts of the \[Civil Right\] Movement we recognize so well now were not born from a single decision, but were a complicated and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-aydin/the-parts-of-the-civil-right-movement-we-recognize-so-well-now-were/) [Andrew Aydin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-aydin/) > [Two people could build an outhouse in four hours. They're not complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-maxwell/two-people-could-build-an-outhouse-in-four-hours-they-re-not/) [Robert Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-maxwell/) Browse all 3,190 Complicated quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the things that's complicated about writing anything is that it's an act of narcissism, and then of course once it sails out into the world, you have to let go of it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Ayers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-about-writing-anything-is-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Complicated" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-about-writing-anything-is-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/bill-ayers-1848_complicated_one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-abo_1652850.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of the things that's complicated about writing anything is that it's an act of narcissism, and then of…” — Bill Ayers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Ayers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One of the things that's complicated...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-about-writing-anything-is-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-things-that-s-complicated-about-writing-anything-is-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```