--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If ideas are what feed serious literature…" description: "\"If ideas are what feed serious literature and arresting language, who today is writing a novel of ideas (which can often mean comedy)? I think of Joshu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/cynthia-ozick-2945_arresting_if-ideas-are-what-feed-serious-literatur_397000.png" --- # If ideas are what feed serious literature and arresting… ![“If ideas are what feed serious literature and arresting language, who today is writing a novel of ideas (which can often mean comedy)? I think of Joshua Cohen. Who else?” quote by Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/cynthia-ozick-2945_arresting_if-ideas-are-what-feed-serious-literatur_397000.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/cynthia-ozick-2945_arresting_if-ideas-are-what-feed-serious-literatur_397000.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/cynthia-ozick-2945_arresting_if-ideas-are-what-feed-serious-literatur_397000.png) > “If ideas are what feed serious literature and arresting language, who today is writing a novel of ideas (which can often mean comedy)? I think of Joshua Cohen. Who else?” [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contemporary literature often lacks deep, idea‑driven narratives; the author seeks writers who blend ideas with humor. **In simple terms:** Modern novels need more ideas and wit. Key Takeaway Read and write idea‑rich, humorous works. Themes literature creativity humor intellectualism Mood thoughtful curious Type literary analytical When to use this quote - creative workshops - literary criticism - author collaborations Key Concepts novel writing conceptual storytelling satire Questions to Reflect On - Which authors achieve this balance? - How can humor enhance serious themes? A Different Perspective Balancing ideas and entertainment can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arresting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arresting/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Comedy Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy-think/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-mean-505723/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Joshua Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joshua-cohen-3568688/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-ideas-901118/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Worst ideas? Me? Whatever do you mean? There are no bad ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-audigier/worst-ideas-me-whatever-do-you-mean-there-are-no-bad-ideas/) [Christian Audigier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-audigier/) > [“Bea: It's a terrible idea. I shouldn't have said anything. Mrs. Reegs: It's not terrible Bea. It's just an idea. Ideas mean you're thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-yeh/bea-it-s-a-terrible-idea-i-shouldn-t-have-said-anything-mrs-reegs-it/) [Kat Yeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-yeh/) > [I know some writers that have a million novel ideas, but I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-know-some-writers-that-have-a-million-novel-ideas-but-i-don-t/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [Keep on the lookout for novel ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/keep-on-the-lookout-for-novel-ideas-that-others-have-used/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you could hear other people's thoughts, you'd overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/if-you-could-hear-other-people-s-thoughts-you-d-overhear-things-that/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [Sometimes the ideas that mean the most to you will feel true long before you can quite formulate them or justify them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/sometimes-the-ideas-that-mean-the-most-to-you-will-feel-true-long/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [“I had a head for religious ideas. They were the first ideas I ever encountered. They made other ideas seem mean…I had miles of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-had-a-head-for-religious-ideas-they-were-the-first-ideas-i-ever/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Whatever our problems are, dreams can provide novel ideas and sometimes magnificent resolutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-garfield/whatever-our-problems-are-dreams-can-provide-novel-ideas-and/) [Patricia Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-garfield/) > [I feel like I have a lot of novel ideas, but they often come up while I'm already in the process of working on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-de-la-pena/i-feel-like-i-have-a-lot-of-novel-ideas-but-they-often-come-up-while/) [Matt de la Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-de-la-pena/) > [All good thoughts and ideas mean nothing without action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/all-good-thoughts-and-ideas-mean-nothing-without-action/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“But there is no doubt that to attempt a novel of ideas is to give oneself a handicap: the parochialism of our culture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/but-there-is-no-doubt-that-to-attempt-a-novel-of-ideas-is-to-give/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There's a long relationship between science fiction and the 'novel of ideas,' and I think writers of science fiction are able to draw on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kitamura/there-s-a-long-relationship-between-science-fiction-and-the-novel-of/) [Katie Kitamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kitamura/) > [“The writer’s obsessions are twofold. First, communicate their thoughts onto paper with a great degree of precision in order accurately to express everything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-writer-s-obsessions-are-twofold-first-communicate-their-thoughts/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Coming up with novel ideas and converting them into real products has always been as natural as breathing for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-h-baer/coming-up-with-novel-ideas-and-converting-them-into-real-products-has/) [Ralph H. Baer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-h-baer/) > [ \[In the case of\] dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/in-the-case-of-dangerous-exercise-of-other-powers-not-granted-by-the/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) ## More by Cynthia Ozick > [History ... isn't simply what has happened. It's a judgment on what has happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/history-isn-t-simply-what-has-happened-it-s-a-judgment-on-what-has/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [The novelist's intuition for the sacred differs from the translator's interrogation of the sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/the-novelist-s-intuition-for-the-sacred-differs-from-the-translator-s/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Advances in technology neither impede nor augment literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/advances-in-technology-neither-impede-nor-augment-literature/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“The Germans are sentimental. Their word Heimweh . The English say homesick; the same in plain Swedish. Hemsjuk . Leave it to the Germans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/the-germans-are-sentimental-their-word-heimweh-the-english-say/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [To desire to be what one can be is purpose in life. There are no exterior forces. There are only interior forces. Who squanders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/to-desire-to-be-what-one-can-be-is-purpose-in-life-there-are-no/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Imagine an American Hans Christian Andersen, conceive of the Brothers Grimm living in Missouri, and you will approximate Howard Schwartz, a fable-maker and fable-gatherer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/imagine-an-american-hans-christian-andersen-conceive-of-the-brothers/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [literature is an instrument of a culture, not a summary of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/literature-is-an-instrument-of-a-culture-not-a-summary-of-it/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I think a fictional invention grows according to its own development, not the author's. Characters in fiction are not simply as alive as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/i-think-a-fictional-invention-grows-according-to-its-own-development/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I don't agree with the sentiment 'write what you know.'... I think one should write what one doesn't know. The world is bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/i-don-t-agree-with-the-sentiment-write-what-you-know-i-think-one/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [An essay is a thing of the imagination. If there is information in an essay, it is by-the-by, and if there is an opinion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/an-essay-is-a-thing-of-the-imagination-if-there-is-information-in-an/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [There was a period... when I used to say, with as much ferocity as I could muster, 'I hate Henry James, and I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/there-was-a-period-when-i-used-to-say-with-as-much-ferocity-as-i/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Godlessness invariably produces vulgarity. Civilization is the product of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/godlessness-invariably-produces-vulgarity-civilization-is-the-product/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Dedication to one's work in the world is the only possible sanctifica-tion. Religion in all its forms is dedication to Someone Else's work, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/dedication-to-one-s-work-in-the-world-is-the-only-possible-sanctifica/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [What was lost in the European cataclysm was not only the Jewish past--the whole life of a civilization--but also a major share ofthe Jewish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/what-was-lost-in-the-european-cataclysm-was-not-only-the-jewish-past/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/we-take-for-granted-the-very-things-that-most-deserve-our-gratitude/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) [Explore all 144 Cynthia Ozick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## More Arresting quotes > [ \[In the case of\] dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/in-the-case-of-dangerous-exercise-of-other-powers-not-granted-by-the/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Let's get the government stay out of our private lives, once and for all, and stop arresting smokers. Let's take a stand for personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/let-s-get-the-government-stay-out-of-our-private-lives-once-and-for/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [I should love to do a novel, about one abnormal character seeing present-day life, very ordinary life, yet arresting through it, abnormality, until at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-should-love-to-do-a-novel-about-one-abnormal-character-seeing/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [In Fascism, if you were a Jew, you were simply killed. Nobody had the idea of arresting Jews and torturing them to confess the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-fascism-if-you-were-a-jew-you-were-simply-killed-nobody-had-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [An arresting testimony to the haunting power of friendships, THE AFTER GIRLS is a story that understands what it is to be passionate, confused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micol-ostow/an-arresting-testimony-to-the-haunting-power-of-friendships-the-after/) [Micol Ostow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micol-ostow/) > [Well, I'm not saying that we're solving every problem or arresting every person that ought to be arrested and deported, but we're doing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thad-cochran/well-i-m-not-saying-that-we-re-solving-every-problem-or-arresting/) [Thad Cochran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thad-cochran/) > [I want every man on the force to try his best, his level best, to try to avoid arresting anyone. I know that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chill-wills/i-want-every-man-on-the-force-to-try-his-best-his-level-best-to-try/) [Chill Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chill-wills/) > [“And at that instant, I was six and half years old again, watching the two arresting officers - a man and a woman dressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sana-krasikov/and-at-that-instant-i-was-six-and-half-years-old-again-watching-the/) [Sana Krasikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sana-krasikov/) > [First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I'm not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-niemoller/first-they-came-for-the-jews-but-i-did-nothing-because-i-m-not-a-jew/) [Martin Niemoller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-niemoller/) > [What, and that means arresting ordinary factory workers. In the street, in broad daylight. It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there. Donna, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-noble/what-and-that-means-arresting-ordinary-factory-workers-in-the-street/) [Donna Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-noble/) > [How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries. Besides the fanatical frenzy which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/how-dreadful-are-the-curses-which-mohammedanism-lays-on-its-votaries/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The evil eye is the fascinum, it is that which has the effect of arresting movement and, literally, of killing life. At the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-evil-eye-is-the-fascinum-it-is-that-which-has-the-effect-of/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/improvident-habits-slovenly-systems-of-agriculture-sluggish-methods/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Contemporary scholars have little explored the preconditions of genocide. Still less have they asked whether a society's weapons policy might be one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-polsby/contemporary-scholars-have-little-explored-the-preconditions-of/) [Daniel D. Polsby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-polsby/) > [The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-fact-that-in-mohammedan-law-every-woman-must-belong-to-some-man/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) [Browse all 46 Arresting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arresting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If ideas are what feed serious literature and arresting language, who today is writing a novel of ideas (which can often mean comedy)? I think of Joshua Cohen. 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