--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Work freely and rollickingly as though…" description: "\"Work freely and rollickingly as though you were talking to a friend who loves you. Mentally (at least three or four times a day) thumb your nose at all..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/brenda-ueland-3836_critics_work-freely-and-rollickingly-as-though-y_2104845.png" --- # Work freely and rollickingly as though you were talking to… ![“Work freely and rollickingly as though you were talking to a friend who loves you. Mentally (at least three or four times a day) thumb your nose at all know-it-alls, jeerers, critics, doubters.” quote by Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/brenda-ueland-3836_critics_work-freely-and-rollickingly-as-though-y_2104845.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/brenda-ueland-3836_critics_work-freely-and-rollickingly-as-though-y_2104845.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/brenda-ueland-3836_critics_work-freely-and-rollickingly-as-though-y_2104845.png) > “Work freely and rollickingly as though you were talking to a friend who loves you. Mentally (at least three or four times a day) thumb your nose at all know-it-alls, jeerers, critics, doubters.” [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Approach life with playful honesty, treating yourself kindly and dismissing pretentious criticism. **In simple terms:** Be playful, kind, and ignore know‑it‑alls. Key Takeaway Adopt a light‑hearted, self‑compassionate attitude. Themes self‑compassion playfulness criticism authenticity Mood cheerful defiant Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - daily affirmations - creative work - social media interaction Key Concepts mindfulness inner dialogue Questions to Reflect On - When do you need seriousness over playfulness? - How do you balance confidence with humility? A Different Perspective Over‑playfulness can mask deeper issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doubters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubters/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) ## Related quotes > [I am friendly to all political parties. So, I am able to do my social work freely without any hassles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek/i-am-friendly-to-all-political-parties-so-i-am-able-to-do-my-social/) [Vivek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek/) > [From teaching, the NHS and social care, to cleaning and building, the U.K. economy depends heavily on E.U. workers. Under a Canada-style deal for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-miller/from-teaching-the-nhs-and-social-care-to-cleaning-and-building-the-u/) [Gina Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-miller/) > [My willingness to explore and work freely is not without risk, and at times, I find myself caught in a bind... Knowing I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-johnson/my-willingness-to-explore-and-work-freely-is-not-without-risk-and-at/) [Brian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-johnson/) > [“After I leave the earth my work is anyway going to belong to the world for centuries but till that time I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/after-i-leave-the-earth-my-work-is-anyway-going-to-belong-to-the/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [All work, the genuine work which we must achieve, is that which is most difficult and painful: the work on ourselves. If we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-gebser/all-work-the-genuine-work-which-we-must-achieve-is-that-which-is-most/) [Jean Gebser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-gebser/) > [I work from the people that interest me, and that I care about, in rooms that I live in and know. I use the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-freud/i-work-from-the-people-that-interest-me-and-that-i-care-about-in/) [Lucian Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-freud/) > [A lot of jobs don't allow you to be who you are. There is dignity in work only when it is work freely accepted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/a-lot-of-jobs-don-t-allow-you-to-be-who-you-are-there-is-dignity-in/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It is well enough, when one is talking to a friend, to lodge in an odd word by way of counsel now and then;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lamb/it-is-well-enough-when-one-is-talking-to-a-friend-to-lodge-in-an-odd/) Mary Lamb > [In private conversation between intimate friends, the wisest men very often talk like the weakest : for indeed the talking with a friend is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/in-private-conversation-between-intimate-friends-the-wisest-men-very/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Talking to God is like talking to a friend on the telephone...We may not see Him on the other end but we know He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/talking-to-god-is-like-talking-to-a-friend-on-the-telephone-we-may/) Pacifiersucker > [When you're talking to your friend and you stop mid-sentence because the b\*tch you don't like, walks by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella/when-you-re-talking-to-your-friend-and-you-stop-mid-sentence-because-2/) [Bella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella/) > [Every human being is in need of talking to somebody. In this country nobody has time. It seems that talking to a friend has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlene-dietrich/every-human-being-is-in-need-of-talking-to-somebody-in-this-country/) [Marlene Dietrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlene-dietrich/) > [A True Friend Wouldn't Tell You To STOP Talking To Your Friend Just Because They Don't Like Them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayla-maldonado/a-true-friend-wouldn-t-tell-you-to-stop-talking-to-your-friend-just/) Kayla Maldonado > [When you're talking to your friend and you stop mid-sentence because the b\*tch you don't like, walks by. Relax gee and step on de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shatta-movement-for-life/when-you-re-talking-to-your-friend-and-you-stop-mid-sentence-because/) Shatta Movement For Life > [\*talking to friend about 1D \* friend : cool me : WAIT !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/talking-to-friend-about-1d-friend-cool-me-wait/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Brenda Ueland > [“At least I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/at-least-i-understood-that-writing-was-this-an-impulse-to-share-with/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [If I did not wear torn pants, orthopedic shoes, frantic disheveled hair, that is to say, if I did not tone down my beauty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/if-i-did-not-wear-torn-pants-orthopedic-shoes-frantic-disheveled-hair/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“\[4It is hard to be carefree when you have many anxieties. But the more you have, the more necessary it is to feel carefree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/4it-is-hard-to-be-carefree-when-you-have-many-anxieties-but-the-more/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“I will tell you what I have learned myself. For me, a long five- or six-mile walk helps. And one must go alone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-will-tell-you-what-i-have-learned-myself-for-me-a-long-five-or-six/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Self-trust is so important. When you launch on a story, make your neck loose, feel free, good-natured. And be lazy. Feel that you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/self-trust-is-so-important-when-you-launch-on-a-story-make-your-neck/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [We start out in our lives as little children, full of light and the clearest vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/we-start-out-in-our-lives-as-little-children-full-of-light-and-the/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Inspiration comes to us slowly and quietly . prime it with a little solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/inspiration-comes-to-us-slowly-and-quietly-prime-it-with-a-little/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [... to paint with oil paints for the first time ... is like trying to make something exquisitely accurate and microscopically clear out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/to-paint-with-oil-paints-for-the-first-time-is-like-trying-to-make/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [running is the right thing to do! I am free, healthy with a good complexion. It is that automobile addict who should be ashamed:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/running-is-the-right-thing-to-do-i-am-free-healthy-with-a-good/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/the-only-good-teachers-for-you-are-those-friends-who-love-you-who/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [... when I am really alone some power seems to grow in me. ... Conjugality made me think of a three-legged race, where two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-i-am-really-alone-some-power-seems-to-grow-in-me-conjugality/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“In the same way there is much, much in all of us, but we do not know it. No one ever calls it out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/in-the-same-way-there-is-much-much-in-all-of-us-but-we-do-not-know-it/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-we-are-listened-to-it-creates-us-makes-us-unfold-and-expand/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“...the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/the-best-way-to-know-the-truth-or-beauty-is-to-try-to-express-it-and/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Sometimes I think of life as a process where everybody is discouraging and taking everybody else down a peg or two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/sometimes-i-think-of-life-as-a-process-where-everybody-is/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) [Explore all 121 Brenda Ueland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) ## More Critics quotes > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Critics are biased, and so are readers. (Indeed, a critic is a bundle of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste.) But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-balliett/critics-are-biased-and-so-are-readers-indeed-a-critic-is-a-bundle-of/) Whitney Balliett > [I reject criticism because the last thing I wanted was to sit there and look at people talking. I think people are conditioned to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-tyrnauer/i-reject-criticism-because-the-last-thing-i-wanted-was-to-sit-there/) [Matt Tyrnauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-tyrnauer/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [There was a cultural war going on, the '60s was going on. All the film critics were square.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/there-was-a-cultural-war-going-on-the-60s-was-going-on-all-the-film/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [Capitalists have done more good for society through their charitable giving, philanthropy and generosity than all their critics combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/capitalists-have-done-more-good-for-society-through-their-charitable/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [I get that the media wants us to play theater critics and critique every other proposal. What I'm focusing on are my own policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/i-get-that-the-media-wants-us-to-play-theater-critics-and-critique/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [The Yippies, their lifestyle is different from mine. But I consider Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman inspired critics of the kind of society that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dellinger/the-yippies-their-lifestyle-is-different-from-mine-but-i-consider/) [David Dellinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dellinger/) > [This one goes out to all my critics: don't you feel stupid? Look how I did it. Look how it came to pass when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/this-one-goes-out-to-all-my-critics-don-t-you-feel-stupid-look-how-i/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [There's a lot of stuff I want to do, just things that I want to explore that don't involve show business. I'm going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/there-s-a-lot-of-stuff-i-want-to-do-just-things-that-i-want-to/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/whatever-course-you-decide-upon-there-is-always-someone-to-tell-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The boundaries between contemporary art and cinema are so rigid. It's unbelievable. The film critics don't know my artwork and the art world doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/the-boundaries-between-contemporary-art-and-cinema-are-so-rigid-it-s/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [A certain type of critic doesn't really want French movies to be visual. They think movies started from books and they forgot this part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-tautou/a-certain-type-of-critic-doesn-t-really-want-french-movies-to-be/) [Audrey Tautou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-tautou/) Browse all 2,637 Critics quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Work freely and rollickingly as though you were talking to a friend who loves you. 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