--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because When you write about people, you…" description: "\"“Because When you write about people, you inevitably offend--but if you write about animals, the evil do not recognize themselves but the good understa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg" --- # Because When you write about people, you inevitably… ![“Because When you write about people, you inevitably offend--but if you write about animals, the evil do not recognize themselves but the good understand immediately.” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg) > ““Because When you write about people, you inevitably offend--but if you write about animals, the evil do not recognize themselves but the good understand immediately.”” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing about humans often offends; animal narratives reveal moral truths more directly. **In simple terms:** Animal stories expose hidden morals. Key Takeaway Use animal allegory for honesty. Themes ethics writing perspective Mood thoughtful provocative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - teaching - creative writing - public speaking - activism Key Concepts allegory animal symbolism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do animal stories feel safer? - How can you ensure clarity in allegorical writing? A Different Perspective Allegories can be misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesop/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Fables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) [Self examination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-examination/) [Self recognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-recognition/) ## Related quotes > [When you write about animals, of course, you are really writing about the people who love and live with them. Animals mirror and reveal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-katz/when-you-write-about-animals-of-course-you-are-really-writing-about/) [Jon Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-katz/) > [After I recovered from 'Lioness', I wanted to write something about animals because I really like mythical creatures, especially dragons. At 12, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/after-i-recovered-from-lioness-i-wanted-to-write-something-about/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [Whether it's the Axis of Evil, or the evils of eating meat, it is a concept that has all but lost the impact it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/whether-it-s-the-axis-of-evil-or-the-evils-of-eating-meat-it-is-a/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-indifference-callousness-and-contempt-that-so-many-people-exhibit/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-indifference-callousness-and-contempt-that-so-many-people-exhibit-2/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“Be content with your lot; once cannot be first in everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-once-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“Hester shook her head. 'Don't confuse what you do with who you are, dearie. Besides, there's no shame in humble work. Why, Aesop himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-auxier/hester-shook-her-head-don-t-confuse-what-you-do-with-who-you-are/) [Jonathan Auxier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-auxier/) > [“Slow and steady wins the race." "That is almost always untrue." "Take it up with Aesop." "Aesop never existed. The stories credited to him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race-that-is-almost-always-untrue-take-it-up/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [“And yet surely to alchemy this right is due, that it may be compared to the husbandman whereof Aesop makes the fable, that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/and-yet-surely-to-alchemy-this-right-is-due-that-it-may-be-compared/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“I would by all means have men beware, lest Aesop 's pretty fable of the fly that sate on the pole of a chariot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/i-would-by-all-means-have-men-beware-lest-aesop-s-pretty-fable-of-the/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“Aesop fable. “You can play the clever fox all you want—but you’ll never get the grapes that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-dobelli/aesop-fable-you-can-play-the-clever-fox-all-you-want-but-you-ll-never/) [Rolf Dobelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-dobelli/) > [“One such monster lived around 600 B.C. and was the slave of a Greek nobleman named Iadmon who lived on Samos. This unfortunate was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-p-mannix/one-such-monster-lived-around-600-b-c-and-was-the-slave-of-a-greek/) Daniel P. Mannix > [“Eva, can I pose as Aesop in a cave?" No, Don.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-agee/eva-can-i-pose-as-aesop-in-a-cave-no-don/) Jon Agee > [Aesop, that great man, saw his master making water as he walked. "What!" he said, "Must we void ourselves as we run?" Use our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/aesop-that-great-man-saw-his-master-making-water-as-he-walked-what-he/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-brookner/in-real-life-it-is-the-hare-who-wins-every-time-look-around-you-and/) [Anita Brookner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-brookner/) ## More by Erica Jong > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-writing-poetry-and-teaching-but/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Naomi Wolf dares to explode the myth of 'victim feminism' and pleads for allowing women to be as full of good and bad desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/naomi-wolf-dares-to-explode-the-myth-of-victim-feminism-and-pleads/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I knew I was in England by the smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-knew-i-was-in-england-by-the-smell/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The Lives of Great Men are more oft' at variance with their profess'd Phillosophies than consistent with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-lives-of-great-men-are-more-oft-at-variance-with-their-profess-d/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Women's books are kind of discriminated against. If a man writes a book about his family stories, people think of it as literature. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-s-books-are-kind-of-discriminated-against-if-a-man-writes-a/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Many, many people have done a lot more sexual experimentation than I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/many-many-people-have-done-a-lot-more-sexual-experimentation-than-i/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Is life much too long for an immortal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/is-life-much-too-long-for-an-immortal/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Don't ye know that ev'ry Soul on Earth feels itself to be an Orphan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/don-t-ye-know-that-ev-ry-soul-on-earth-feels-itself-to-be-an-orphan/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/critics-write-out-of-intellectual-exercise-not-poets-poets-write/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/once-i-worshipped-keats-for-dying-young-now-i-think-it-s-braver-to/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Explore all 542 Erica Jong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## More Aesop quotes > [“Be content with your lot; once cannot be first in everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-once-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Aesop, that great man, saw his master making water as he walked. "What!" he said, "Must we void ourselves as we run?" Use our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/aesop-that-great-man-saw-his-master-making-water-as-he-walked-what-he/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“Eva, can I pose as Aesop in a cave?" No, Don.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-agee/eva-can-i-pose-as-aesop-in-a-cave-no-don/) Jon Agee > [“One such monster lived around 600 B.C. and was the slave of a Greek nobleman named Iadmon who lived on Samos. This unfortunate was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-p-mannix/one-such-monster-lived-around-600-b-c-and-was-the-slave-of-a-greek/) Daniel P. Mannix > [“Aesop fable. “You can play the clever fox all you want—but you’ll never get the grapes that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-dobelli/aesop-fable-you-can-play-the-clever-fox-all-you-want-but-you-ll-never/) [Rolf Dobelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-dobelli/) > [“I would by all means have men beware, lest Aesop 's pretty fable of the fly that sate on the pole of a chariot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/i-would-by-all-means-have-men-beware-lest-aesop-s-pretty-fable-of-the/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“And yet surely to alchemy this right is due, that it may be compared to the husbandman whereof Aesop makes the fable, that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/and-yet-surely-to-alchemy-this-right-is-due-that-it-may-be-compared/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“Slow and steady wins the race." "That is almost always untrue." "Take it up with Aesop." "Aesop never existed. The stories credited to him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race-that-is-almost-always-untrue-take-it-up/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [“Hester shook her head. 'Don't confuse what you do with who you are, dearie. Besides, there's no shame in humble work. Why, Aesop himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-auxier/hester-shook-her-head-don-t-confuse-what-you-do-with-who-you-are/) [Jonathan Auxier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-auxier/) > [In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-brookner/in-real-life-it-is-the-hare-who-wins-every-time-look-around-you-and/) [Anita Brookner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-brookner/) > [It is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. hares have no time to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-brookner/it-is-my-contention-that-aesop-was-writing-for-the-tortoise-market/) [Anita Brookner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-brookner/) > [I have come to the conclusion that a goodly number of the fables that pass under the name of the Samian slave, Aesop, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-jacobs/i-have-come-to-the-conclusion-that-a-goodly-number-of-the-fables-that/) [Joseph Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-jacobs/) [Browse all 13 Aesop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesop/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Because When you write about people, you inevitably offend--but if you write about animals, the evil do not recognize themselves but the good understand immediately.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Erica Jong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/because-when-you-write-about-people-you-inevitably-offend-but-if-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aesop" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/because-when-you-write-about-people-you-inevitably-offend-but-if-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/erica-jong-445_aesop_because-when-you-write-about-people-you_2079093.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because When you write about people, you inevitably offend--but if you write about animals, the evil do not…” — Erica Jong", "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": "Erica Jong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Because When you write about people,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/because-when-you-write-about-people-you-inevitably-offend-but-if-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/because-when-you-write-about-people-you-inevitably-offend-but-if-you/#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 } } ] } ```