--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've always believed that a writer has…" description: "\"I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.\" — Colin Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg" --- # I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an… ![“I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.” quote by Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg) > “I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.” [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A writer must keep distance to observe truth objectively, avoiding personal bias. **In simple terms:** Writers stay detached to see clearly. Key Takeaway Maintain critical distance. Themes creativity objectivity identity Mood introspective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - journalism - fiction writing - research analysis - personal diaries Key Concepts existentialism literary theory Questions to Reflect On - When does distance become disengagement? - How to balance involvement with observation? A Different Perspective Detachment can lead to isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believed Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-writer-559340/) [Outsider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsider/) [Outsiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsiders/) [Remain Outsider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remain-outsider-1920916/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Got](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-got-4198346/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider. 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If I could not live on it, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/i-believed-that-if-i-was-to-call-myself-a-writer-i-should-live-on/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [I think every writer has got to direct. If you don't direct, you can't protect your work. The only way to ensure that it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sherman-palladino/i-think-every-writer-has-got-to-direct-if-you-don-t-direct-you-can-t/) [Amy Sherman-Palladino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sherman-palladino/) > [I guess I am doomed to remain an outsider to the end, lacking as I am the indispensable qualities of an academic insider: school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/i-guess-i-am-doomed-to-remain-an-outsider-to-the-end-lacking-as-i-am/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [I never thought of myself as an outsider. Because outside of what? You would have to give advantage to this space where you're not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-never-thought-of-myself-as-an-outsider-because-outside-of-what-you/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Donald Trump is sort of the first candidate of his type that non-politician, true outsider, was coming to shake up the system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellyanne-conway/donald-trump-is-sort-of-the-first-candidate-of-his-type-that-non/) [Kellyanne Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellyanne-conway/) > [I've always felt myself to be an outsider. I've always felt awkward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-paxman/i-ve-always-felt-myself-to-be-an-outsider-i-ve-always-felt-awkward/) [Jeremy Paxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-paxman/) > [How many times have we brought in an outsider to tell us what we already knew?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-block/how-many-times-have-we-brought-in-an-outsider-to-tell-us-what-we/) [Peter Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-block/) > [I cannot imagine anyone being more of an outsider than the first woman president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-cannot-imagine-anyone-being-more-of-an-outsider-than-the-first/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I've always - and not always happily - considered myself an outsider. Certainly at Fettes. And then the Scots are always outsiders in England.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-deaton/i-ve-always-and-not-always-happily-considered-myself-an-outsider/) [Angus Deaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-deaton/) > [I was always an outsider, proud of being an outsider. I always reveled in the outsiders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zorn/i-was-always-an-outsider-proud-of-being-an-outsider-i-always-reveled/) [John Zorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zorn/) > [I've always been an outsider kid. But I had always wanted to be in a group - growing up, I loved bands like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-angelique/i-ve-always-been-an-outsider-kid-but-i-had-always-wanted-to-be-in-a/) [Dawn Angelique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-angelique/) > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Colin Wilson > [“Man is not a 'fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant'. He changed drastically when he developed 'divided consciousness' to cope with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-not-a-fixed-and-limited-animal-whose-nature-is-absolutely/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“As to Gurdjieff's power to renew his own energies, its essence had been understood by psychologists of the nineteenth century, decades before the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/as-to-gurdjieff-s-power-to-renew-his-own-energies-its-essence-had/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The mystical impulse in men is somehow a desire to possess the universe. In women, it's a desire to be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-mystical-impulse-in-men-is-somehow-a-desire-to-possess-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-exploration-of-oneself-is-usually-also-an-exploration-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“There is in Shaw, as in Gurdjieff and Nietzsche, a recognition of the immense effort of Will that is necessary to express even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/there-is-in-shaw-as-in-gurdjieff-and-nietzsche-a-recognition-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [I was aggressively nonpolitical. I believed that people who make a fuss about politics do so because their heads are too empty to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-was-aggressively-nonpolitical-i-believed-that-people-who-make-a/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Christianity was an epidemic rather than a religion. It appealed to fear, hysteria and ignorance. It spread across the Western world, not because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/christianity-was-an-epidemic-rather-than-a-religion-it-appealed-to/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [When I open my eyes in the morning, I am not confronted by a world, but by a million possible worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/when-i-open-my-eyes-in-the-morning-i-am-not-confronted-by-a-world-but/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/religion-mysticism-and-magic-all-spring-from-the-same-basic-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-brilliant-at-solving-problems-but-solving-them-only-makes-him/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [It was Rousseau who was largely responsible for the problem by giving currency to the idea that freedom can exist without responsibility and discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/it-was-rousseau-who-was-largely-responsible-for-the-problem-by-giving/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If I'd stayed on in London and carried on going to literary parties, it would have wrecked me as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-i-d-stayed-on-in-london-and-carried-on-going-to-literary-parties/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Imagination should be used, not to escape reality but to create it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/imagination-should-be-used-not-to-escape-reality-but-to-create-it/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If you asked me what is the basis of all my work, it's the feeling there's something basically wrong with human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-you-asked-me-what-is-the-basis-of-all-my-work-it-s-the-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The sheer volume of evidence for survival after death is so immense that to ignore it is like standing at the foot of Mount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-sheer-volume-of-evidence-for-survival-after-death-is-so-immense/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) [Explore all 81 Colin Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## More Outsider quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think like Raj Thackeray... that anyone from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or anywhere who comes to Mumbai is an outsider.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakhi-sawant/i-don-t-think-like-raj-thackeray-that-anyone-from-uttar-pradesh-or/) [Rakhi Sawant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakhi-sawant/) > [“I used to be a mddle-of-the-road kid, but now with my freaky looks I'm definately an outsider. Hooray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-kuhlman/i-used-to-be-a-mddle-of-the-road-kid-but-now-with-my-freaky-looks-i-m/) [Evan Kuhlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-kuhlman/) > [It is harder for an outsider to make an entry into the industry, but that also does not mean star kids have it easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nidhhi-agerwal/it-is-harder-for-an-outsider-to-make-an-entry-into-the-industry-but/) [Nidhhi Agerwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nidhhi-agerwal/) > [“She felt the warmth of Peter's arm under her neck, and it almost felt like he was an extension of her, and like if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-lynn-anderson/she-felt-the-warmth-of-peter-s-arm-under-her-neck-and-it-almost-felt/) [Jodi Lynn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-lynn-anderson/) > [I always felt like an outsider of the industry, and now I feel quite comfortable as an independent artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-nash/i-always-felt-like-an-outsider-of-the-industry-and-now-i-feel-quite/) [Kate Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-nash/) > [“I assure you; while I look like a ghost, I'm no spirit or demon. I'm nothing but a girl struggling to make her way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leanna-renee-hieber/i-assure-you-while-i-look-like-a-ghost-i-m-no-spirit-or-demon-i-m/) [Leanna Renee Hieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leanna-renee-hieber/) > [I've always been an outsider everywhere I go - I don't fit in with the Swedish rap community or the American rap community. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yung-lean/i-ve-always-been-an-outsider-everywhere-i-go-i-don-t-fit-in-with-the/) [Yung Lean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yung-lean/) > [So tell me, as an outsider, what do you think of the human race?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-tell-me-as-an-outsider-what-do-you-think-of-the-human-race/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've always been an outsider kid. But I had always wanted to be in a group - growing up, I loved bands like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-angelique/i-ve-always-been-an-outsider-kid-but-i-had-always-wanted-to-be-in-a/) [Dawn Angelique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-angelique/) > [I am an outsider looking in, absolutely. You're not going to see me at the Academy Awards 'Vanity Fair' party any time soon. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-griffin/i-am-an-outsider-looking-in-absolutely-you-re-not-going-to-see-me-at/) [Kathy Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-griffin/) > [I was always an outsider, proud of being an outsider. I always reveled in the outsiders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zorn/i-was-always-an-outsider-proud-of-being-an-outsider-i-always-reveled/) [John Zorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zorn/) > [I'm always thinking as an outsider, and I'm always mindful of whether a company can be impactful on a global basis. Frankly, I'm paranoid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-rimer/i-m-always-thinking-as-an-outsider-and-i-m-always-mindful-of-whether/) [Danny Rimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-rimer/) > [Rhaenyra is deeply interested in gender dynamics; she has really keen awareness for the different space that men and women are afforded. She feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-d-arcy/rhaenyra-is-deeply-interested-in-gender-dynamics-she-has-really-keen/) [Emma D'Arcy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-d-arcy/) > [“Growing up in a culture that constantly reminds one that they are an outsider can be deeply destructive, especially since that standard voice is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-yes-yes/growing-up-in-a-culture-that-constantly-reminds-one-that-they-are-an/) [Laura Yes Yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-yes-yes/) [Browse all 572 Outsider quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsider/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colin Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Outsider" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/colin-wilson-8331_outsider_i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-g_490529.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.” — Colin Wilson", "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": "Colin Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I've always believed that a writer...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider/#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 } } ] } ```