--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A woman writer, quitting love before…" description: "\"A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png" --- # A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love… ![“A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png) > “A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It posits that when love disappoints, a writer may prioritize literature over love, suggesting a shift of devotion from personal relationships to creative work. **In simple terms:** Disappointment in love can redirect focus to art. Key Takeaway Channel emotional pain into creative expression. Themes love art priorities Mood reflective inspirational Type creative emotional When to use this quote - writing - relationship healing - career decisions - emotional resilience Key Concepts literature psychology Questions to Reflect On - Can personal loss fuel artistic growth? - When should love and work be balanced? A Different Perspective Not all writers respond this way; love can also inspire art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-love-1073565/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is/) [Love literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-literature/) [Quitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quitting/) [Quitting Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quitting-love-5665048/) [Woman Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-writer-431211/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Writer Quitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-quitting-5665049/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“If publishers are here, I've got a feeling they will agree with whatever I say because the publishing houses are packed full of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/if-publishers-are-here-i-ve-got-a-feeling-they-will-agree-with/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [A public library is the most democratic thing in the world. What can be found there has undone dictators and tyrants: demagogues can persecute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-public-library-is-the-most-democratic-thing-in-the-world-what-can-2/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [People who love literature have at least part of their minds immune from indoctrination. If you read, you can learn to think for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/people-who-love-literature-have-at-least-part-of-their-minds-immune/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-my-opinion-that-every-woman-can-be-a-writer/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [If you're a woman writer, sometime, somewhere, you will be asked: Do you think of yourself as a writer first, or as a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/if-you-re-a-woman-writer-sometime-somewhere-you-will-be-asked-do-you/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Of the paperbacks that you see at the airport, I am the most violent woman writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-cain/of-the-paperbacks-that-you-see-at-the-airport-i-am-the-most-violent/) [Chelsea Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-cain/) > [I just think of myself as a writer. Yes, I'm a woman. And I'm a writer. The main challenge is that I like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-han/i-just-think-of-myself-as-a-writer-yes-i-m-a-woman-and-i-m-a-writer/) [Jenny Han](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-han/) > [“Of course, if I write a first-person novel about a woman writer, I am inviting every book reviewer to apply the autobiographical label --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/of-course-if-i-write-a-first-person-novel-about-a-woman-writer-i-am/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights "the servile house," and who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mischief-for-the-world-will/) [Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) > [“Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/killing-the-angel-in-the-house-was-part-of-the-occupation-of-a-woman/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Now, I can tell you about some women writers who truly are fantastic. One is Anna Kavan. She writes stories like I approach "Land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/now-i-can-tell-you-about-some-women-writers-who-truly-are-fantastic/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [A literary agent is nothing but a cheap salesman (or woman); while a writer is a cheap salesman (or woman) who also has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/a-literary-agent-is-nothing-but-a-cheap-salesman-or-woman-while-a/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [“I will be­lieve that the bat­tle of fem­i­nism is over, and that the fe­male has reached a po­si­tion of equal­ity with the male, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-will-be-lieve-that-the-bat-tle-of-fem-i-nism-is-over-and-that-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [No black woman writer in this culture can write "too much". Indeed, no woman writer can write "too much"...No woman has ever written enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/no-black-woman-writer-in-this-culture-can-write-too-much-indeed-no/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [“...there are only two things that really matter in life. Literature and love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-kalotay/there-are-only-two-things-that-really-matter-in-life-literature-and/) [Daphne Kalotay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-kalotay/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-remember-world-war-ii-when-there-were-very-few-books-very-little/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [They can't give a Nobel to someone who's dead so I think they were probably thinking they had better give it to me now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/they-can-t-give-a-nobel-to-someone-who-s-dead-so-i-think-they-were/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“While she strode rapidly through the ward to the door at the other end, she was able to see that every bed or cot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/while-she-strode-rapidly-through-the-ward-to-the-door-at-the-other/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think that marriage is one of my talents. I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“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/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-literature-when-love-lets-her/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-literature-when-love-lets-her/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/doris-lessing-501_books_a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-lite_3152468.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.” — Doris Lessing", "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": "Doris Lessing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A woman writer, quitting love before...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-literature-when-love-lets-her/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-literature-when-love-lets-her/#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 } } ] } ```