--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the…" description: "\"Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real speech.\" — Ernest Hemingway" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg" --- # Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real… ![“Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real speech.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg) > “Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real speech.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dialogue should mimic real speech’s rhythm and subtext, creating an illusion of authenticity. **In simple terms:** Good dialogue feels like real conversation. Key Takeaway Craft speech that sounds natural yet purposeful. Themes communication authenticity writing Mood reflective analytical Type literary educational When to use this quote - screenwriting - novel writing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts literary technique subtext Questions to Reflect On - When does realistic dialogue hinder storytelling? - How to embed subtext effectively? A Different Perspective Overly realistic dialogue can become mundane; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) [Dialogue Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue-real-1663452/) [Good Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-dialogue-607372/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-speech-1261110/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Speech Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech-illusion-1663453/) ## Related quotes > [I feel any actor can deliver a dialogue but real acting is how one reacts to the dialogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ammy-virk/i-feel-any-actor-can-deliver-a-dialogue-but-real-acting-is-how-one/) [Ammy Virk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ammy-virk/) > [If you make a movie about Elizabeth I, how much of the dialogue is her real words? Audiences know when they go see a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-annaud/if-you-make-a-movie-about-elizabeth-i-how-much-of-the-dialogue-is-her/) [Jean-Jacques Annaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-annaud/) > [ There is no such thing as realistic dialogue. If you \[simply recorded\] the real conversation of any people and played it back from the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-l-mankiewicz/there-is-no-such-thing-as-realistic-dialogue-if-you-simply-recorded/) [Joseph L. Mankiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-l-mankiewicz/) > [Real speech can only come from complete silence. Incomplete silence is as fussy as deliberate conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-richardson/real-speech-can-only-come-from-complete-silence-incomplete-silence-is/) [Dorothy Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-richardson/) > [From 1940 to about 1960, I had been writing just regular comics, the way my publishers wanted me too. He didn't want me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/from-1940-to-about-1960-i-had-been-writing-just-regular-comics-the/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [Reading aloud sounds like a good idea, but honestly, it doesn't work very well. Good dialogue in a book doesn't actually bear much resemblance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/reading-aloud-sounds-like-a-good-idea-but-honestly-it-doesn-t-work/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [When I first started writing plays I couldn't write good dialogue because I didn't respect how black people talked. I thought that in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/when-i-first-started-writing-plays-i-couldn-t-write-good-dialogue/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [Good dialogue illuminates what people are not saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-towne/good-dialogue-illuminates-what-people-are-not-saying/) [Robert Towne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-towne/) > [Also a good director and good dialogue. That's very important because you're bringing the words to life. So it's very important for an actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-garner/also-a-good-director-and-good-dialogue-that-s-very-important-because/) [Julia Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-garner/) > [Writing good dialogue is art as well as craft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/writing-good-dialogue-is-art-as-well-as-craft/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It's very rare to get a film script that has good dialogue. A lot of the time, you spend on film sets really fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keira-knightley/it-s-very-rare-to-get-a-film-script-that-has-good-dialogue-a-lot-of/) [Keira Knightley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keira-knightley/) > [I like to say good dialogue is a million times easier to memorize than bad dialogue - difficult good dialogue, even if it's difficult.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bradford/i-like-to-say-good-dialogue-is-a-million-times-easier-to-memorize/) [Jesse Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bradford/) > [Eyes are the greatest tool in film. Mr. Capra taught me that. Sure it's nice to say very good dialogue, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-stanwyck/eyes-are-the-greatest-tool-in-film-mr-capra-taught-me-that-sure-it-s/) [Barbara Stanwyck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-stanwyck/) > [Any dialogue about fashion is a good dialogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/any-dialogue-about-fashion-is-a-good-dialogue/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [Good acting is confused with good dialogue delivery. Acting is about all about performance, and the way we interpret and understand the character that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-menon/good-acting-is-confused-with-good-dialogue-delivery-acting-is-about/) [Rajiv Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-menon/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. I've been in a public bathroom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-ve-been-in-a-serious-conversation-with-one-of-my-children-and-a-fan/) [Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/) [Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/) > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real speech.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-the-illusion-of-real-speech/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communication" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-the-illusion-of-real-speech/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/ernest-hemingway-83_communication_good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-th_1757555.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Good dialogue is not real speech-it's the illusion of real speech.” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Good dialogue is not real speech-it's...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-the-illusion-of-real-speech/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/good-dialogue-is-not-real-speech-it-s-the-illusion-of-real-speech/#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 } } ] } ```