--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the…" description: "\"“Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/flannery-o-connor-639_criticism_everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the_569297.png" --- # Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university… ![“Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” quote by Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/flannery-o-connor-639_criticism_everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the_569297.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/flannery-o-connor-639_criticism_everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the_569297.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/flannery-o-connor-639_criticism_everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the_569297.png) > ““Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.”” [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## 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 believes universities fail to sufficiently suppress writers, implying that more rigorous academic oversight could prevent certain best‑selling works. **In simple terms:** Universities don't curb writers enough; stricter teaching might stop some popular books. Key Takeaway Consider stronger mentorship to guide writers. Themes education literature creative writing institutional critique Mood skeptical inquisitive Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - curriculum design - publisher decisions - literary criticism - student mentorship Key Concepts Censorship pedagogy authorial freedom Questions to Reflect On - Should universities limit creative expression? - What is the role of teachers in shaping literature? A Different Perspective Excessive control may stifle creativity; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Good teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-teacher/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Stifles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stifles/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the-university-stifles-writers-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everywhere I go, I am asked if I think university stifles writers. My opinion is that it doesn't stifle enough of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everywhere-i-go-i-am-asked-if-i-think-university-stifles-writers-my/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everywhere-i-go-i-m-asked-if-i-think-the-universities-stifle-writers/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I think the University of Texas has the chance to become the finest public university in the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hicks/i-think-the-university-of-texas-has-the-chance-to-become-the-finest/) [Tom Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hicks/) > [I worry that people think you have to go to a university to be a good writer, which is categorically untrue. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-shannon/i-worry-that-people-think-you-have-to-go-to-a-university-to-be-a-good/) [Samantha Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-shannon/) > [I wanted to be a writer from my early teenage years, but I never told anyone. Writers, in my opinion, were god-like creatures, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-from-my-early-teenage-years-but-i-never-told/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [Writers have an opinion about the world and offer arguments about the world. They should offer contemplation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/writers-have-an-opinion-about-the-world-and-offer-arguments-about-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“This confines us and stifles us. We can be truly successful only at something we’re willing to fail at.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/this-confines-us-and-stifles-us-we-can-be-truly-successful-only-at/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [When I don't have a good time, it's usually because there's a stiffness that stifles creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-shandling/when-i-don-t-have-a-good-time-it-s-usually-because-there-s-a/) [Garry Shandling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-shandling/) > [Whoever lacks the initiative to read books stifles his own selfhood,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-f-h-henry/whoever-lacks-the-initiative-to-read-books-stifles-his-own-selfhood/) [Carl F. H. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-f-h-henry/) > [The moment that any life, however good, stifles you, you may be sure it isn't your real life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/the-moment-that-any-life-however-good-stifles-you-you-may-be-sure-it/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) > [I don't always think I am right, not by a long shot, but no one stifles me. When I care deeply about something, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/i-don-t-always-think-i-am-right-not-by-a-long-shot-but-no-one-stifles/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Having to make a blockbuster every time puts unhealthy pressure on creatives. The pressure on the filmmakers is so intense, I think it stifles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-selick/having-to-make-a-blockbuster-every-time-puts-unhealthy-pressure-on/) [Henry Selick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-selick/) > [Crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market. But it erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-koch/crony-capitalism-is-much-easier-than-competing-in-an-open-market-but/) [Charles Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-koch/) > [At some point, most of us reach a place where we're afraid to fail, where we instinctively avoid failure and stick only to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/at-some-point-most-of-us-reach-a-place-where-we-re-afraid-to-fail-3/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) ## More by Flannery O'Connor > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I don’t know how to cure the source-itis except to tell you that I can discover a good many possible sources myself for Wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-don-t-know-how-to-cure-the-source-itis-except-to-tell-you-that-i/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everything that gave her pleasure was small and depressed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everything-that-gave-her-pleasure-was-small-and-depressed-him/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“He felt his hunger no longer as a pain but as a tide. He felt it rising in himself through time and darkness, rising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/he-felt-his-hunger-no-longer-as-a-pain-but-as-a-tide-he-felt-it/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/where-you-come-from-is-gone-where-you-thought-you-were-going-to-never/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Technique in the minds of many is something rigid, something like a formula that you impose on the material; but in the best stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/technique-in-the-minds-of-many-is-something-rigid-something-like-a/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“There are all kinds of truth ... but behind all of them there is only one truth and that is that there's no truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/there-are-all-kinds-of-truth-but-behind-all-of-them-there-is-only-one/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Mrs. May winced. She thought the word Jesus should be kept inside the church building like other words inside the bedroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/mrs-may-winced-she-thought-the-word-jesus-should-be-kept-inside-the/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-feel-that-discussing-story-writing-in-terms-of-plot-character-and/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [She had observed that the more education they got, the less they could do. Their father had gone to a one-room schoolhouse through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/she-had-observed-that-the-more-education-they-got-the-less-they-could/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [One of the awful things about writing when you are a Christian is that for you the ultimate reality is the Incarnation, the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/one-of-the-awful-things-about-writing-when-you-are-a-christian-is/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Hazel Motes sat at a forward angel on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/hazel-motes-sat-at-a-forward-angel-on-the-green-plush-train-seat/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) [Explore all 432 Flannery O'Connor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## More Criticism quotes > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [I reject criticism because the last thing I wanted was to sit there and look at people talking. I think people are conditioned to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-tyrnauer/i-reject-criticism-because-the-last-thing-i-wanted-was-to-sit-there/) [Matt Tyrnauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-tyrnauer/) > [I'm more comfortable modelling as a man because I don't get any criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain-dove/i-m-more-comfortable-modelling-as-a-man-because-i-don-t-get-any/) [Rain Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain-dove/) > [I don't mind positive criticism, but when it is negative and personal, it is quite hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inzamam-ul-haq/i-don-t-mind-positive-criticism-but-when-it-is-negative-and-personal/) [Inzamam-ul-Haq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inzamam-ul-haq/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Everything is allowable in literature, but what is not allowable in criticism is objection on the grounds of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/everything-is-allowable-in-literature-but-what-is-not-allowable-in/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [Lots of relationships fail because we spend more time pointing out each other's mistakes and not enough time enjoying each other's company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lots-of-relationships-fail-because-we-spend-more-time-pointing-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [People believe that criticism should be objective, whatever that means, but I really don't understand what people mean by that. I guess if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-christgau/people-believe-that-criticism-should-be-objective-whatever-that-means/) [Robert Christgau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-christgau/) > [I welcome criticism. I come from a - I wouldn't say mean, but you've got to have tough skin to be in my family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saweetie/i-welcome-criticism-i-come-from-a-i-wouldn-t-say-mean-but-you-ve-got/) [Saweetie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saweetie/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Browse all 3,954 Criticism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. 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