--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've tried to reduce profanity but I…" description: "\"I've tried to reduce profanity but I reduced so much profanity when writing the book that I'm afraid not much could come out. Perhaps we will have to c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/ernest-hemingway-83_book_i-ve-tried-to-reduce-profanity-but-i-red_3165618.jpg" --- # I've tried to reduce profanity but I reduced so much… ![“I've tried to reduce profanity but I reduced so much profanity when writing the book that I'm afraid not much could come out. Perhaps we will have to consider it simply as a profane book and hope that the next book will be less profane or perhaps more sacred.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/ernest-hemingway-83_book_i-ve-tried-to-reduce-profanity-but-i-red_3165618.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/ernest-hemingway-83_book_i-ve-tried-to-reduce-profanity-but-i-red_3165618.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/ernest-hemingway-83_book_i-ve-tried-to-reduce-profanity-but-i-red_3165618.jpg) > “I've tried to reduce profanity but I reduced so much profanity when writing the book that I'm afraid not much could come out. Perhaps we will have to consider it simply as a profane book and hope that the next book will be less profane or perhaps more sacred.” [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. The speaker admits that attempts to curb profanity resulted in even more profanity, suggesting a paradox where restraint leads to excess. **In simple terms:** Trying to limit profanity made it increase. Key Takeaway Recognize when self‑imposed limits backfire. Themes self‑control paradox writing creative process discipline Mood reflective confessional Type literary personal When to use this quote - author interviews - writing workshops - editing - personal reflection - creative blocks Key Concepts self‑sabotage creative tension literary style Questions to Reflect On - How can constraints inspire creativity? - When does self‑censorship hinder expression? A Different Perspective The statement may be hyperbolic, not a literal rule. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Profane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-profane-5740636/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Profane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profane/) [Profane Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profane-book-5740638/) [Profanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profanity/) [Profanity Reduced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profanity-reduced-5740640/) [Profanity Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profanity-writing-5740634/) [Reduce Profanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reduce-profanity-5740637/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Swearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swearing/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [No parent can consistently teach faith in Christ who profanes the name of Deity. Profanity is never heard in the well-ordered home. Swearing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/no-parent-can-consistently-teach-faith-in-christ-who-profanes-the/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [The eye of a man should be still more reverent before the rising of a young maiden than before the rising of a star.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-eye-of-a-man-should-be-still-more-reverent-before-the-rising-of-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I shall possess this woman; I shall steal her from the husband who profanes her: I will even dare ravish her from the God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/i-shall-possess-this-woman-i-shall-steal-her-from-the-husband-who/) [Pierre Choderlos de Laclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/) > [Scriptures - The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/scriptures-the-sacred-books-of-our-holy-religion-as-distinguished/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“One morning Profane woke up early, couldn't get back to sleep and decided on a whim to spend the day like a yo-yo, shuttling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/one-morning-profane-woke-up-early-couldn-t-get-back-to-sleep-and/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/there-are-more-sure-marks-of-authenticity-in-the-bible-than-in-any/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-philosopher-who-with-calm-suspicion-examines-the-dreams-and-omens/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [None of us like the concept of law because none of us like the restraints it puts on us. But when we understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/none-of-us-like-the-concept-of-law-because-none-of-us-like-the/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [It is hereby decreed that the wall separating the sacred and the profane be toen down. From now on everything is sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-hereby-decreed-that-the-wall-separating-the-sacred-and-the/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [War is a profane thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-schwarzkopf/war-is-a-profane-thing/) [Norman Schwarzkopf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-schwarzkopf/) > [I was called really horrible, profane names very loudly in front of huge crowds of people, and my schoolwork suffered at one point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-was-called-really-horrible-profane-names-very-loudly-in-front-of/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [“love is profane, since it mortally reaches toward the heaven in ye!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/love-is-profane-since-it-mortally-reaches-toward-the-heaven-in-ye/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-better-proof-of-reverence-for-that-holy-name-would-be-not-to/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-secret-thoughts-of-a-man-run-over-all-things-holy-profane-clean/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) ## 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. 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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 Book 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/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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