--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be…" description: "\"The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.\" — Diane Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png" --- # The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts… ![“The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.” quote by Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png) > “The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.” [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authors hide risky ideas behind fictional characters to avoid personal blame. **In simple terms:** Writers use characters as safe vessels. Key Takeaway Use fiction to explore controversial thoughts. Themes creativity self‑protection literature Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - public speaking Key Concepts authorial distance risk management Questions to Reflect On - Why hide ideas behind a fool? - Does anonymity empower honesty? A Different Perspective May limit authentic expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Reserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reserves/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Those who want to burn books are either afraid of the ideas contained within the covers or they haven't the courage to stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-douglas/those-who-want-to-burn-books-are-either-afraid-of-the-ideas-contained/) [Tommy Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-douglas/) > [We are afraid of ideas, of experimenting, of change. 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Don't be afraid of ideas that are not your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crockford/progress-comes-from-finding-better-ways-to-do-things-don-t-be-afraid/) [Douglas Crockford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crockford/) > [A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/a-great-reserve-and-severity-of-manners-are-necessary-for-the-command/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/the-federal-reserve-is-not-currently-forecasting-a-recession/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) > [I think it would be interesting to know about the Federal Reserve. 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Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-c-solomon/) > [My single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can't imagine anything more disastrous to our country.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-zell/my-single-biggest-financial-concern-is-the-loss-of-the-dollar-as-the/) [Sam Zell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-zell/) > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. 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What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/statuettes-of-drunken-sailors-velvet-pictures-of-island-maidens/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [A novel's whole pattern is rarely apparent at the outset of writing, or even at the end; that is when the writer finds out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/a-novel-s-whole-pattern-is-rarely-apparent-at-the-outset-of-writing/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [In what we think of as bad dialogue, the characters talk directly to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/in-what-we-think-of-as-bad-dialogue-the-characters-talk-directly-to/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [Not having to own a car has made me realize what a waste of time the automobile is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/not-having-to-own-a-car-has-made-me-realize-what-a-waste-of-time-the/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [Glenda Adams has written a wicked and witty novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/glenda-adams-has-written-a-wicked-and-witty-novel/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [...is this not in fact the purpose of young Americans going abroad? 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It adds flavor, keeps it from being too dry, and makes it easier to swallow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/laughter-is-the-jam-on-the-toast-of-life-it-adds-flavor-keeps-it-from/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [But novels are never about what they are about; that is, there is always deeper, or more general, significance. The author may not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/but-novels-are-never-about-what-they-are-about-that-is-there-is/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) [Explore all 18 Diane Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) ## More Fool quotes > [Do I look like a fool to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamika-leeigh/do-i-look-like-a-fool-to-you/) [Tamika-leeigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamika-leeigh/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Not wise, perhaps, to be rude to the Pope's favorite son, but my viper tongue still required a fool now and then on which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-quinn/not-wise-perhaps-to-be-rude-to-the-pope-s-favorite-son-but-my-viper/) [Kate Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-quinn/) > [He's a fool that marries; but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wycherley/he-s-a-fool-that-marries-but-he-s-a-greater-fool-that-does-not-marry/) [William Wycherley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wycherley/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-bernstein/a-fool-and-his-money-get-a-lot-of-publicity/) [Al Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-bernstein/) > [There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/there-are-different-kinds-of-fire-there-is-false-fire-no-one-knows/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [Every man must wear out at least one pair of fools shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-derr-biggers/every-man-must-wear-out-at-least-one-pair-of-fools-shoes/) [Earl Derr Biggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-derr-biggers/) > [If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wc-fields/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-try-try-again-then-quit-no-use-being-a/) [WC Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wc-fields/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [I'd be a fool to be in this for the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-hinn/i-d-be-a-fool-to-be-in-this-for-the-money/) [Benny Hinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-hinn/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) > [Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-defeated-in-the-presence-of-the-wise-than-to-excel-among/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) [Browse all 5,535 Fool quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foolish-slyly-puts-them-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fool" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foolish-slyly-puts-them-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/diane-johnson-29077_fool_the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foo_1004184.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves…” — Diane Johnson", "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": "Diane Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Novelist, afraid his ideas may...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foolish-slyly-puts-them-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/the-novelist-afraid-his-ideas-may-be-foolish-slyly-puts-them-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```