--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the writer is initially set going by…" description: "\"the writer is initially set going by literature more than by life.\" — Flannery O'Connor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png" --- # the writer is initially set going by literature more than… ![“the writer is initially set going by literature more than by life.” quote by Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png) > “the writer is initially set going by literature more than by life.” [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. Literature often guides a writer more than lived experience, shaping perception and voice. **In simple terms:** Writing is driven by books more than life. Key Takeaway Read widely, write authentically. Themes creativity influence experience Mood introspective thoughtful Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - writing workshops - academic study - personal reflection Key Concepts literary theory authorial voice Questions to Reflect On - How does reading shape your own story? - Can you balance life and literature? A Different Perspective Overreliance on literature may detach from reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Going Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-literature-460389/) [Initially Set](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/initially-set-4893673/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-life/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Initially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-initially-4893672/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It seems to me that literature is giving way a little bit to the immediacy of other diversions, other forms of entertainment. 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Literature flows to the particular, the mundane, the greasiness of paper, the taste of warm beer, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/books-should-confuse-literature-abhors-the-typical-literature-flows/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Life without literature is a life reduced to penury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/life-without-literature-is-a-life-reduced-to-penury/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [Literature has become my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/literature-has-become-my-life/) [Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/) > [“You see the profound effect literature can have on life? Who says it's all a waste of time? 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It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-practice-it-is-in-the-first-place/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) ## 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. 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And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "the writer is initially set going by literature more than by life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Flannery O'Connor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-literature-more-than-by-life/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-literature-more-than-by-life/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/flannery-o-connor-639_books_the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-lit_3021474.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the writer is initially set going by literature more than by life.” — Flannery O'Connor", "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": "Flannery O'Connor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "the writer is initially set going...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-literature-more-than-by-life/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-writer-is-initially-set-going-by-literature-more-than-by-life/#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 } } ] } ```