--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to think that once a writer became…" description: "\"I used to think that once a writer became a man of letters, if only for a half hour, he was done for. And here I am now, at the very moment of such an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/dylan-thomas-1889_danger_i-used-to-think-that-once-a-writer-becam_1735627.jpg" --- # I used to think that once a writer became a man of… ![“I used to think that once a writer became a man of letters, if only for a half hour, he was done for. And here I am now, at the very moment of such an odious, though respectable, danger.” quote by Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/dylan-thomas-1889_danger_i-used-to-think-that-once-a-writer-becam_1735627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/dylan-thomas-1889_danger_i-used-to-think-that-once-a-writer-becam_1735627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/dylan-thomas-1889_danger_i-used-to-think-that-once-a-writer-becam_1735627.jpg) > “I used to think that once a writer became a man of letters, if only for a half hour, he was done for. And here I am now, at the very moment of such an odious, though respectable, danger.” [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. Becoming a writer brings both respect and a daunting, almost threatening, responsibility. **In simple terms:** Writing brings honor and a daunting, respectable danger. Key Takeaway Embrace the challenge of literary creation. Themes creativity responsibility danger respect Mood reflective poetic Type literary personal When to use this quote - publishing - teaching - public readings - personal writing Key Concepts artistic identity literary pressure self‑expectation Questions to Reflect On - What does “odious danger” mean to you? - How do you balance respect and fear? A Different Perspective May cause self‑doubt if pressure is too high. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Pretension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretension/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I've dug all the large words out of my vocabulary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-average-english-word-is-four-letters-and-a-half-by-hard-honest/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Most personal correspondence of today consists of letters the first half of which are given over to an indexed statement of why the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/most-personal-correspondence-of-today-consists-of-letters-the-first/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [If I'd learned nothing else, it was this: If you want to be a great writer, be a man. If you can't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/if-i-d-learned-nothing-else-it-was-this-if-you-want-to-be-a-great/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be himself he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-the-writer-is-a-man-who-can/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [“A writer is a man who has taught his mind to misbehave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/a-writer-is-a-man-who-has-taught-his-mind-to-misbehave/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-freelance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [A man who wants the truth becomes a scientist; a man who wants to give free play to his subjectivity may become a writer;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-who-wants-the-truth-becomes-a-scientist-a-man-who-wants-to-give/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [One must never judge the writer by the man; but one may fairly judge the man by the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/one-must-never-judge-the-writer-by-the-man-but-one-may-fairly-judge/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/talent-alone-cannot-make-a-writer-there-must-be-a-man-behind-the-book/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A writer is a man like any other: he dreams. And my dream was to be able to say of this book, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/a-writer-is-a-man-like-any-other-he-dreams-and-my-dream-was-to-be/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Nothing can injure a man's writing if he's a first-rate writer. 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'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/) > [A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/) [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. 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