--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While thought exists, words are alive and…" description: "\"“While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living. Cyril Connolly (English critic and editor, 1903-197..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/cyril-connolly-1829_books_while-thought-exists-words-are-alive-and_2662293.png" --- # While thought exists, words are alive and literature… ![“While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living. Cyril Connolly (English critic and editor, 1903-1974)” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/cyril-connolly-1829_books_while-thought-exists-words-are-alive-and_2662293.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/cyril-connolly-1829_books_while-thought-exists-words-are-alive-and_2662293.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/cyril-connolly-1829_books_while-thought-exists-words-are-alive-and_2662293.png) > ““While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living. Cyril Connolly (English critic and editor, 1903-1974)”” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. While thought exists, words live, making literature an escape into life, not away from it. **In simple terms:** Literature immerses us in living thought. Key Takeaway Engage deeply with reading. Themes literature thought escape life Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading clubs - creative writing - academic study - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - How does literature reflect personal reality? - What role does language play in thought? A Different Perspective Escapism can become avoidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [While thoughts exist, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/while-thoughts-exist-words-are-alive-and-literature-becomes-an-escape/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Cyril Connolly, twentieth-century writer and critic, wrote that ‘words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living.’ That was how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-sankovitch/cyril-connolly-twentieth-century-writer-and-critic-wrote-that-words/) [Nina Sankovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-sankovitch/) > [When I write after dark", observed Cyril Connolly, "the shades of evening scatter their purple through my prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fadiman/when-i-write-after-dark-observed-cyril-connolly-the-shades-of-evening/) [Anne Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fadiman/) > [No original thought still exists. People are original, each one of them. The same ideas that others had before you are waiting for you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashly-lorenzana/no-original-thought-still-exists-people-are-original-each-one-of-them/) [Ashly Lorenzana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashly-lorenzana/) > [An Idea is a written,Said and unsaid thought. It only exists in on your Phones, Computers, Papers and your Brains. -rickosi4eva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rickosi/an-idea-is-a-written-said-and-unsaid-thought-it-only-exists-in-on/) [Richard Rickosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rickosi/) > [“Books. The more I thought about how to stop and get myself back together as one sane, whole person, the more I thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-sankovitch/books-the-more-i-thought-about-how-to-stop-and-get-myself-back/) [Nina Sankovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-sankovitch/) > [Words are alive--when I've found a story that I love, I read it again and again, like playing a favorite song over and over.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-paulsen/words-are-alive-when-i-ve-found-a-story-that-i-love-i-read-it-again/) [Gary Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-paulsen/) > [Words are alive. Cut them and they bleed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/words-are-alive-cut-them-and-they-bleed/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. 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Krebs > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living. 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