--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a grad student and later as a writer…" description: "\"As a grad student and later as a writer, I have found it hard to sustain the pure, almost erotic love of reading I had as a kid - you know, where you c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/elif-batuman-2172_all-kinds_as-a-grad-student-and-later-as-a-writer_434701.png" --- # As a grad student and later as a writer, I have found it… ![“As a grad student and later as a writer, I have found it hard to sustain the pure, almost erotic love of reading I had as a kid - you know, where you climb in bed and read for hours and hours, and the book itself is this charged magical object. Later, when writing becomes your job, it's tied up…” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/elif-batuman-2172_all-kinds_as-a-grad-student-and-later-as-a-writer_434701.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/elif-batuman-2172_all-kinds_as-a-grad-student-and-later-as-a-writer_434701.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/elif-batuman-2172_all-kinds_as-a-grad-student-and-later-as-a-writer_434701.png) > “As a grad student and later as a writer, I have found it hard to sustain the pure, almost erotic love of reading I had as a kid - you know, where you climb in bed and read for hours and hours, and the book itself is this charged magical object. Later, when writing becomes your job, it's tied up with ego and all kinds of worry, and it's not always easy to get to that state of pure escape.” [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The pure, childlike love of reading fades when reading becomes work, tangled with ego and anxiety, making escape harder. **In simple terms:** Reading loses its magic when it feels like a job. Key Takeaway Seek reading for pleasure, not performance. Themes reading joy escape ego creativity Mood nostalgic reflective contemplative Type personal reflective inspirational When to use this quote - personal reading time - writing retreats - mindful reading - setting boundaries - reconnecting with childhood wonder Key Concepts literary love intrinsic motivation creative block Questions to Reflect On - How can you separate reading for pleasure from reading for work? - What rituals can protect the magic of reading? A Different Perspective The pressure of professional expectations can still dampen enjoyment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All kinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-kinds/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Erotic love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/erotic-love/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Later Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/later-writer-3721861/) [Later Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/later-writing-3824605/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love of reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-reading/) [Love Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-reading/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Tied up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tied-up/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Writer Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-hard-2256375/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Sooner or later every writer evolves his own definition of a story. 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The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. 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So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Sydney is full of the craziest and most talented artists of all kinds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiynan-lonsdale/sydney-is-full-of-the-craziest-and-most-talented-artists-of-all-kinds/) [Keiynan Lonsdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiynan-lonsdale/) > [Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/baseball-needs-to-put-the-steroids-era-behind-it-by-having-and/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [You know, the world’s not running out of oil. 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