--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books are written so their authors can be…" description: "\"“Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so that they remain silent.”\" — Elena Ferrante" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png" --- # Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so… ![“Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so that they remain silent.” quote by Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png) > ““Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so that they remain silent.”” [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authors write to share their voice, not to hide it. **In simple terms:** Writing gives authors a voice. Key Takeaway Speak your truth through writing. Themes expression voice literature Mood reflective determined Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - publishing - public speaking - blogging - social media - teaching Key Concepts authorship communication visibility Questions to Reflect On - How does your work ensure your voice is heard? - What barriers might silence authors? A Different Perspective Writing can be limited by censorship or market pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authors Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authors-heard-4032333/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-written/) [Remain Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remain-silent/) [Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written Authors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-authors-1969035/) ## Related quotes > [“It is sixty-six books written by forty authors, written between 1446 B.C. & 90 A.D. But, now we discover that it is an integrated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-missler/it-is-sixty-six-books-written-by-forty-authors-written-between-1446-b/) [Chuck Missler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-missler/) > [Schoolchildren all over America are told to write to authors-often to authors whom they have never before heard of, whose work they are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/schoolchildren-all-over-america-are-told-to-write-to-authors-often-to/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“It's a change. You never know what might happen, do you?" "Never." The kind of things, perhaps, that might have happened in books written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-parry/it-s-a-change-you-never-know-what-might-happen-do-you-never-the-kind/) [H.G. Parry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-parry/) > [“For the first time in her life, she read voraciously. Anything that was on Joe's bookshelves she considered to have a worthy seal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-north/for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-read-voraciously-anything-that-was/) [Freya North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-north/) > [I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/i-believe-that-books-once-they-are-written-have-no-need-of-their/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [We can't gather the intelligence we need to foil future attacks, if we are blindly granting terrorists the right to remain silent. But for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-can-t-gather-the-intelligence-we-need-to-foil-future-attacks-if-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had two options One was to remain silent and wait to be killed and the second was to speak up and then be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-had-two-options-one-was-to-remain-silent-and-wait-to-be-killed-and/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [“Never judge a person, who remain silent infront of you. Because being silent have many definition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pabito-lisean/never-judge-a-person-who-remain-silent-infront-of-you-because-being/) [Pabito Lisean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pabito-lisean/) > [we need to turn the question around to look at the harasser, not the target. We need to be sure that we can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-hill/we-need-to-turn-the-question-around-to-look-at-the-harasser-not-the/) [Anita Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-hill/) > [You plan to be a challenge, do you?" Juliana smiled angelically. "I agreed to remain, my lord. Not to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/you-plan-to-be-a-challenge-do-you-juliana-smiled-angelically-i-agreed/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [All too often the worst thing that can happen to the young is to depoliticize them. When that happens, not only are young people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/all-too-often-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-the-young-is-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately. It is not his insight that sets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/a-leader-is-someone-who-has-the-courage-to-say-publicly-what/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [It would have been more comfortable to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-hill/it-would-have-been-more-comfortable-to-remain-silent/) [Anita Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-hill/) > [“KINGDOM OF THE WOMB From her thighs, she gives you life And how you treat she who gives you life Shows how much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/kingdom-of-the-womb-from-her-thighs-she-gives-you-life-and-how-you/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## More by Elena Ferrante > [The circle of an empty day is brutal and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/the-circle-of-an-empty-day-is-brutal-and-at-night-it-tightens-around/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Quanto a mim, várias vezes ao dia me acontece de gostar de alguém. Você não? Durante pouco tempo, depois passa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/quanto-a-mim-v-rias-vezes-ao-dia-me-acontece-de-gostar-de-algu-m-voc/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Svakog dana sam sebi ponavljala: to sam što sam, i nema mi druge nego da se s tim pomirim; takva sam rođena, u ovom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/svakog-dana-sam-sebi-ponavljala-to-sam-to-sam-i-nema-mi-druge-nego-da/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“We have too much stuff inside and it swells us, breaks us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/we-have-too-much-stuff-inside-and-it-swells-us-breaks-us/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“To be born in that city is useful for only one thing: to have always known, almost instinctively, what today, with endless fine distinctions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/to-be-born-in-that-city-is-useful-for-only-one-thing-to-have-always/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [As a girl - twelve, thirteen years old - I was absolutely certain that a good book had to have a man as its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/as-a-girl-twelve-thirteen-years-old-i-was-absolutely-certain-that-a/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Religion will disappear from men's consciousness when, finally, we have constructed a world of equals, without class distinctions, and with a sound of scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/religion-will-disappear-from-men-s-consciousness-when-finally-we-have/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Elena Ferrante is the author of several novels. There is nothing mysterious about her, given how she manifests herself - perhaps even too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/elena-ferrante-is-the-author-of-several-novels-there-is-nothing/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Women, in all fields - whether mothers or not - still encounter an extraordinary number of obstacles. They have to hold too many things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/women-in-all-fields-whether-mothers-or-not-still-encounter-an/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Once, she closed the book abruptly and said with annoyance, "That's enough." "Why?" "Because I've had it, it's always the same story: inside something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/once-she-closed-the-book-abruptly-and-said-with-annoyance-that-s/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“She became transparent skin over bones, her eyes drowning in violet wells, her hands damp spider webs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-became-transparent-skin-over-bones-her-eyes-drowning-in-violet/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“When you haven’t been in the world long, it’s hard to comprehend what disasters are at the origin of a sense of disaster: maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/when-you-haven-t-been-in-the-world-long-it-s-hard-to-comprehend-what/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“As long as one writes only for oneself, writing is a free act by means of which, to use an oxymoron, one secretly opens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/as-long-as-one-writes-only-for-oneself-writing-is-a-free-act-by-means/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“We had the same sensitivity to beautiful things, the same need to enjoy them, the same need to search for the right words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/we-had-the-same-sensitivity-to-beautiful-things-the-same-need-to/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Writers, because they write, are condemned never to be readers of their own stories...The memory of first putting a story into words will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/writers-because-they-write-are-condemned-never-to-be-readers-of-their/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) [Explore all 122 Elena Ferrante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) ## 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": "“Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so that they remain silent.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elena Ferrante" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-be-heard-not-so-that-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-be-heard-not-so-that-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85b/elena-ferrante-2338_books_books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-b_2076088.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books are written so their authors can be heard, not so that they remain silent.” — Elena Ferrante", "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": "Elena Ferrante", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Books are written so their authors...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-be-heard-not-so-that-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/books-are-written-so-their-authors-can-be-heard-not-so-that-they/#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 } } ] } ```