--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you haven't surprised yourself, you…" description: "\"If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.\" — Eudora Welty" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png" --- # If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written. ![“If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png) > “If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.” [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests that genuine surprise indicates creative writing; without it, writing lacks authenticity. **In simple terms:** Surprise fuels authentic writing. Key Takeaway Seek surprise in your work. Themes creativity writing authenticity Mood reflective curious Type inspirational thoughtful When to use this quote - drafting stories - journal entries - creative workshops Key Concepts selfexpression inspiration risk taking Questions to Reflect On - What recent surprise sparked your writing? - How can you create surprise intentionally? A Different Perspective Surprise can be fleeting and hard to sustain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Haven Surprised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haven-surprised-2119817/) [Haven Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haven-written-372181/) [Surprised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprised/) [Surprised Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprised-haven-2119818/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) ## Related quotes > [I surprise myself that I'm not dead in the gutter somewhere, surprised that I haven't given up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-syjuco/i-surprise-myself-that-i-m-not-dead-in-the-gutter-somewhere-surprised/) [Miguel Syjuco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-syjuco/) > [If I've surprised others, I haven't surprised myself with the way I've played.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/if-i-ve-surprised-others-i-haven-t-surprised-myself-with-the-way-i-ve/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-love-to-read-poetry-but-i-haven-t-written-anything-that-i-m-willing/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“The Weres would track us from there. I’m surprised they haven’t found us already. I can’t believe you bit her. We have four Were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/the-weres-would-track-us-from-there-i-m-surprised-they-haven-t-found/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“When a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I better have been doing something worth writing about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-bartlett/when-a-day-goes-by-and-i-haven-t-written-anything-i-better-have-been/) [P.S. Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-bartlett/) > [I haven't written anything in four years. I'm sort of dried up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-haven-t-written-anything-in-four-years-i-m-sort-of-dried-up/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [Don't judge people by their cover. Most of their books haven't been written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uknown/don-t-judge-people-by-their-cover-most-of-their-books-haven-t-been/) [Uknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uknown/) > [I'm not a writer. I haven't written anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/i-m-not-a-writer-i-haven-t-written-anything/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [“If there's a better book than this, I haven't written it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/if-there-s-a-better-book-than-this-i-haven-t-written-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [If you haven't written a novel by the time you're forty you never will!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-yates/if-you-haven-t-written-a-novel-by-the-time-you-re-forty-you-never-will/) [Richard Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-yates/) > [I never have written every day. When I'm writing a book, I write Monday through Friday. I always try to take Saturday and pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-never-have-written-every-day-when-i-m-writing-a-book-i-write-monday/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You need more than a beginning if you're going to start a book. If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I write a lot, and then forget what I've written, and then come back to it and say, "Not bad, I should do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-write-a-lot-and-then-forget-what-i-ve-written-and-then-come-back-to/) [Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/) > [Strange, I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/strange-i-feel-as-if-up-to-now-i-had-written-no-more-than-a-few-notes/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) ## More by Eudora Welty > [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) [Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## More Surprised quotes > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [If you leave someone for another person, don't be surprised if that person leaves you for someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-leave-someone-for-another-person-don-t-be-surprised-if-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ David Cameron was wrong on this \[Brexit\]. He didn't get the mood of his country right. He was very surprised to see what happened. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/david-cameron-was-wrong-on-this-brexit-he-didn-t-get-the-mood-of-his/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [I am surprised that anyone can profess to be an atheist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/i-am-surprised-that-anyone-can-profess-to-be-an-atheist/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [Some friends said they weren't surprised to find out Napoleon and I were related, but it came as quite a shock to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-conti/some-friends-said-they-weren-t-surprised-to-find-out-napoleon-and-i/) [Tom Conti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-conti/) > [Many people would be surprised that, in fact, I'm quite shy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/many-people-would-be-surprised-that-in-fact-i-m-quite-shy/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Isn't there something wonderful about being surprised by what you weren't suspecting?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rege-jean-page/isn-t-there-something-wonderful-about-being-surprised-by-what-you/) [Rege-Jean Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rege-jean-page/) > [The millennials were raised in a cocoon, their anxious parents afraid to let them go out in the park to play. So should we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/the-millennials-were-raised-in-a-cocoon-their-anxious-parents-afraid/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [“We should have learned by now not to be surprised by kittypets." Graystripe”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-hunter/we-should-have-learned-by-now-not-to-be-surprised-by-kittypets/) [Erin Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-hunter/) > [“It surprised him how badly he wanted her to stay. It was that male possessiveness again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maisey-yates/it-surprised-him-how-badly-he-wanted-her-to-stay-it-was-that-male/) [Maisey Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maisey-yates/) > [I surprised the hell out of myself when I got MVP for the 2018 All Star Legends Celebrity game. I had no idea I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-miz/i-surprised-the-hell-out-of-myself-when-i-got-mvp-for-the-2018-all/) [The Miz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-miz/) > [I'm shocked and surprised by people that are shocked and surprised that certain things in life are made up or not as true as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-mcclanahan/i-m-shocked-and-surprised-by-people-that-are-shocked-and-surprised/) [Scott McClanahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-mcclanahan/) > [Today one can dare anything, and, furthermore, nobody is surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/today-one-can-dare-anything-and-furthermore-nobody-is-surprised/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [I can whistle really loudly. You know the two-fingered whistle? That. People are usually really surprised that I can do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccartney/i-can-whistle-really-loudly-you-know-the-two-fingered-whistle-that/) [Mary McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccartney/) > [I would not be surprised to see Syria break apart entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-stavridis/i-would-not-be-surprised-to-see-syria-break-apart-entirely/) [James G. Stavridis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-stavridis/) [Browse all 1,060 Surprised quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprised/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eudora Welty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-haven-t-written/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Surprised" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-haven-t-written/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/eudora-welty-1564_surprised_if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-ha_1811580.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.” — Eudora Welty", "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": "Eudora Welty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you haven't surprised yourself, you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-haven-t-written/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-haven-t-written/#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 } } ] } ```