--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque…" description: "\"I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one for myself. When Anne Sex..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg" --- # I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the… ![“I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one for myself. When Anne Sexton admonished me, "We are all writing God's poem," I took it to mean there should be no competition between writers because we are all involved in…” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg) > “I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one for myself. When Anne Sexton admonished me, "We are all writing God's poem," I took it to mean there should be no competition between writers because we are all involved in a common project, a common prayer. But to Gore's and Norman's generation, particularly those male writers who served in the second world war, the prizefighter paradigm remains.” [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. The author rejects the combative writer‑as‑prizefighter image, favoring a collaborative, spiritual view of writing as a shared prayer. **In simple terms:** Writing should be cooperative, not competitive. Key Takeaway Embrace community over competition. Themes creativity collaboration spirituality competition identity Mood reflective inspired thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - literary workshops - writing groups - publishing collaborations - creative retreats Key Concepts authorial myth collective consciousness war‑era masculinity Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster a sense of shared purpose in your writing community? - What rituals help you view writing as a collective prayer? A Different Perspective Some writers may still feel the competitive pressure of market success. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-sexton/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Competition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competition/) [Competition Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competition-writers-1382239/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gore/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Involved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/involved/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Paradigm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradigm/) [Paradigm Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradigm-writer-3339844/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Prizefighter Paradigm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prizefighter-paradigm-3339843/) [Projects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projects/) [Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains/) [Second world war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-world-war/) [Self hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-hate/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Tried Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tried-hard/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War of the worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-of-the-worlds/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) [Writer Prizefighter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-prizefighter-3339845/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-god-1813655/) ## Related quotes > [I'd like to emphasize that when a reader finishes a great novel, he will immediately begin looking for another. If someone loves your book,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farland/i-d-like-to-emphasize-that-when-a-reader-finishes-a-great-novel-he/) [David Farland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farland/) > [The never-ending competition between writers hasn't changed between 1868 and 2000. I used to belong to writers' workshops with other professionals, but that becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/the-never-ending-competition-between-writers-hasn-t-changed-between/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [The States has more publishers and a wider range of aesthetics but so much more competition - the amount of writers vying for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eden-robinson/the-states-has-more-publishers-and-a-wider-range-of-aesthetics-but-so/) [Eden Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eden-robinson/) > [Augustine, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath are confessional writers and all three make me sick. I have nothing in common with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/augustine-anne-sexton-and-sylvia-plath-are-confessional-writers-and/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [“ONE CAN'T BUILD LITTLE WHITE PICKET FENCES TO KEEP NIGHTMARES OUT. -Anne Sexton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-mccreight/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out-2/) [Kimberly McCreight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-mccreight/) > [I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. She was afraid to sleep alone and would begin asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-until-i-was-seventeen-years-old/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [“Anne Sexton knows the mind, Walt Whitman knows grass, but Emily Dickinson knows everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/anne-sexton-knows-the-mind-walt-whitman-knows-grass-but-emily/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [“It was not uncommon to walk in the door of their home and find my mother sitting on the sofa reading over a manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door-of-their-home-and-find-my/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us. As sleep is necessary to our physiology, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entire-attention-death-always-2/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [¢ Your silence has been with me and I have let it have its say. I feel, as always, the same closeness to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have-let-it-have-its-say-i-feel/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) > [I definitely notice the absence of character in most poetry, which is not so say that I'm an innovator in that regard. Character-based poems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-character-in-most-poetry-which-is/) [Shane McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mccrae/) > [I love Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. I also love more cerebral poets like H.D. and Emily Dickinson. My parents subscribed to a monthly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-also-love-more-cerebral-poets/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [I am but a small pencil in the hand of a writing God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-but-a-small-pencil-in-the-hand-of-a-writing-god/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I found once you start writing about God it's really fun. It's like a rock singer saying "baby." "Baby, baby, baaayy-by." You start saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raymond/i-found-once-you-start-writing-about-god-it-s-really-fun-it-s-like-a/) [Jonathan Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raymond/) > [I do not know what God said or wrote, but I know what people claimed in words and writing that God said or wrote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/i-do-not-know-what-god-said-or-wrote-but-i-know-what-people-claimed/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) ## 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 Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. 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Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) [Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one for myself. 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