--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A born writer is born scrofulous; his…" description: "\"A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.\" — Dylan Thomas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg" --- # A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an… ![“A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.” quote by Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg) > “A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.” [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is depicted as an accidental outcome of physical or circumstantial hardships, implying that adversity can shape creative paths. **In simple terms:** Writers often emerge from hardship. Key Takeaway Adversity can spark literary careers. Themes writing adversity creativity accident career Mood melancholic reflective Type literary observation personal belief When to use this quote - memoir writing - therapy through art - career pivots Key Concepts socio‑economic factors health Practical Applications - use personal challenges as material - seek supportive environments Questions to Reflect On - How does hardship influence artistic voice? - Can privilege also foster creativity? A Different Perspective Not all writers arise from hardship; many thrive in stability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disability/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes, when it's going badly, she wonders if what she believes to be a love of the written word is really just a fetish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/sometimes-when-it-s-going-badly-she-wonders-if-what-she-believes-to/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [I wouldn't say I was a born writer; I'm a born thinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/i-wouldn-t-say-i-was-a-born-writer-i-m-a-born-thinker/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [I wanted to be a politician and a movie star. But I was born a writer. If you're born that, you can't change it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-wanted-to-be-a-politician-and-a-movie-star-but-i-was-born-a-writer/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I am not a born writer, but I was born a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enid-bagnold/i-am-not-a-born-writer-but-i-was-born-a-writer/) [Enid Bagnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enid-bagnold/) > [“Through the years the swirl of a pen, click of a key, and the idea of a story have been my deepest passion. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-marie-johnson/through-the-years-the-swirl-of-a-pen-click-of-a-key-and-the-idea-of-a/) [Sai Marie Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-marie-johnson/) > [The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus tickets, on the wall of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/the-true-writer-the-born-writer-will-scribble-words-on-scraps-of/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [Many people say they got into their career by accident. The other side of that is that your career is an accident waiting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-king/many-people-say-they-got-into-their-career-by-accident-the-other-side/) Daniel J. King > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [“When a writer is born into a family, the family is doomed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czelslaw-milosz/when-a-writer-is-born-into-a-family-the-family-is-doomed/) Czelslaw Milosz > [One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/one-of-the-greatest-gifts-you-can-get-as-a-writer-is-to-be-born-into/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [When a writer is born into a family, the family is finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/when-a-writer-is-born-into-a-family-the-family-is-finished/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) > [“A writer is not born but made through study and sheer willpower and ability to embrace beauty and agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-writer-is-not-born-but-made-through-study-and-sheer-willpower-and/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/each-writer-is-born-with-a-repertory-company-in-his-head/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I never thought of myself as either a woman or a man. I thought of myself as a person who was born to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-young/i-never-thought-of-myself-as-either-a-woman-or-a-man-i-thought-of/) [Marguerite Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-young/) > [Dennis Cooper, God help him, is a born writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/dennis-cooper-god-help-him-is-a-born-writer/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## More by Dylan Thomas > [I liked the taste of beer, its live, white lather, its brass-bright depths, the sudden world through the wet-brown walls of the glass, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-liked-the-taste-of-beer-its-live-white-lather-its-brass-bright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/there-is-only-one-position-for-an-artist-anywhere-and-that-is-upright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [“Thousands of miles,' I said. It's Rhosilli, USA. We're going to camp on a bit of rock that wobbles in the winds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/thousands-of-miles-i-said-it-s-rhosilli-usa-we-re-going-to-camp-on-a/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/one-christmas-was-so-much-like-another-in-those-years-around-the-sea/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-hold-a-beast-an-angel-and-a-madman-in-me-and-my-enquiry-is-as-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Youth calls to age across the tired years: 'What have you found,' he cries, 'what have you sought?" 'What have you found,' age answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/youth-calls-to-age-across-the-tired-years-what-have-you-found-he/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Do not go gentle into that goodnight, rage, rage against the dying of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-goodnight-rage-rage-against-the-dying-of/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [To begin, at the beginning...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/to-begin-at-the-beginning/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Rhianon, he said, hold my hand, Rhianon. She did not hear him, but stood over his bed and fixed him with an unbroken sorrow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/rhianon-he-said-hold-my-hand-rhianon-she-did-not-hear-him-but-stood/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I know in London a Welsh hairdresser who has striven so vehemently to abolish his accent that he sounds like a man speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-in-london-a-welsh-hairdresser-who-has-striven-so-vehemently-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Dark is a way and light is a place, Heaven that never was Nor will be ever is always true "Poem on His Birthday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/dark-is-a-way-and-light-is-a-place-heaven-that-never-was-nor-will-be/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [And now, gentlemen, like your manners, I must leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/and-now-gentlemen-like-your-manners-i-must-leave-you/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/now-behind-the-eyes-and-secrets-of-the-dreamers-in-the-streets-rocked/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I believe in New Yorkers. Whether they’ve ever questioned the dream in which they live, I wouldn’t know, because I won’t ever dare ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-believe-in-new-yorkers-whether-they-ve-ever-questioned-the-dream-in/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [“We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/we-are-not-wholly-bad-or-good-who-live-our-lives-under-milk-wood/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) [Explore all 201 Dylan Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## More Careers quotes > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [I don't like being away from home. That's one reason why I don't work as much as I used to \[when I started my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-powell/i-don-t-like-being-away-from-home-that-s-one-reason-why-i-don-t-work/) [Jane Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-powell/) > [The only thing I try to watch carefully is that I never lose the love for the instrument. That's also why I decided against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nils-frahm/the-only-thing-i-try-to-watch-carefully-is-that-i-never-lose-the-love/) [Nils Frahm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nils-frahm/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [The truth is I've just never had any kind of plan at all for my career, which is probably not a very flattering thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty-burrell/the-truth-is-i-ve-just-never-had-any-kind-of-plan-at-all-for-my/) [Ty Burrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty-burrell/) > [I always knew I wanted to have a good career, so I made it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chord-overstreet/i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-have-a-good-career-so-i-made-it-happen/) [Chord Overstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chord-overstreet/) > [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) > [What has drug addiction done for me? It's cost me my career, my fortune and basically my sex life when I found out I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbin-crosby/what-has-drug-addiction-done-for-me-it-s-cost-me-my-career-my-fortune/) Robbin Crosby > [There is so much temptation to hold on to my career even more now. To try to micromanage and dictate every little aspect. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-lin/there-is-so-much-temptation-to-hold-on-to-my-career-even-more-now-to/) [Jeremy Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-lin/) > [Everything I've been through, everything I'm about to go through in my career and my life, if my family wasn't with me and didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-malone/everything-i-ve-been-through-everything-i-m-about-to-go-through-in-my/) [Karl Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-malone/) > [An image has stuck for most of my career and it isn't flattering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbie-fowler/an-image-has-stuck-for-most-of-my-career-and-it-isn-t-flattering/) [Robbie Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robbie-fowler/) Browse all 6,154 Careers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dylan Thomas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Careers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/104/dylan-thomas-1889_careers_a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-car_125753.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial…” — Dylan Thomas", "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": "Dylan Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A born writer is born scrofulous;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/#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 } } ] } ```