--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write because in the act of creation…" description: "\"I write because in the act of creation there comes that mysterious, abundant sense of being both parent and child; I am giving birth to an Other and si..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/francine-du-plessix-gray-19971_birth_i-write-because-in-the-act-of-creation-t_926998.png" --- # I write because in the act of creation there comes that… ![“I write because in the act of creation there comes that mysterious, abundant sense of being both parent and child; I am giving birth to an Other and simultaneously being reborn as a child in the playground of creation.” quote by Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/francine-du-plessix-gray-19971_birth_i-write-because-in-the-act-of-creation-t_926998.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/francine-du-plessix-gray-19971_birth_i-write-because-in-the-act-of-creation-t_926998.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/francine-du-plessix-gray-19971_birth_i-write-because-in-the-act-of-creation-t_926998.png) > “I write because in the act of creation there comes that mysterious, abundant sense of being both parent and child; I am giving birth to an Other and simultaneously being reborn as a child in the playground of creation.” [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creation feels like both giving birth and being reborn, merging parent and child roles in artistic work. **In simple terms:** Creating feels like being both parent and child. Key Takeaway Embrace the duality of creation. Themes creativity identity growth Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - artistic collaborations - personal reflection Key Concepts parenthood rebirth playfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does feeling like a parent change your creative process? - What does being reborn mean for your work? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical steps for tangible creation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Birth Simultaneously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-simultaneously-1479739/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children and parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-and-parents/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Creation Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation-comes-1479741/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-birth/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Playgrounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playgrounds/) [Reborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reborn/) [Simultaneously Reborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simultaneously-reborn-1479740/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Creation comes before distribution -- or there will be nothing to distribute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/creation-comes-before-distribution-or-there-will-be-nothing-to-2/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/men-have-been-taught-that-the-highest-virtue-is-not-to-achieve-but-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Creation comes before distribution - or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/creation-comes-before-distribution-or-there-will-be-nothing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“The first time he talked in that way he said something that I've never forgotten, because it horrified me; he said that the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-first-time-he-talked-in-that-way-he-said-something-that-i-ve/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“She is the crescendo, the final astonishing work of God. Woman. In one least flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-eldredge/she-is-the-crescendo-the-final-astonishing-work-of-god-woman-in-one/) [Stacy Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-eldredge/) > [Whoever is gripped by God's spirit turns to his creation with all the interest that comes from God's love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eberhard-arnold/whoever-is-gripped-by-god-s-spirit-turns-to-his-creation-with-all-the/) [Eberhard Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eberhard-arnold/) > [Freedom comes when you learn to let go, creation comes when you learn to say 'no'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freedom-comes-when-you-learn-to-let-go-creation-comes-when-you-learn/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we will do our part and take a strong stand for our families, God will do His part. He'll help us to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/if-we-will-do-our-part-and-take-a-strong-stand-for-our-families-god/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. Your children need your presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/to-bring-up-a-child-in-the-way-he-should-go-travel-that-way-yourself/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [“Piper wondered if Olympian gods ever blasted their kids with lightning for being evil, or grounded them in the Underworld.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/piper-wondered-if-olympian-gods-ever-blasted-their-kids-with/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [As a skilled psychologist, Dr. Reznick draws from her wealth of experience to offer children and parents a treasure trove of skills to relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-orloff/as-a-skilled-psychologist-dr-reznick-draws-from-her-wealth-of/) [Judith Orloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-orloff/) > [It's tough for parents to talk to children about heavy-weight topics such as peer pressure, drugs and morality if they don't already have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-bednar/it-s-tough-for-parents-to-talk-to-children-about-heavy-weight-topics/) [David A. Bednar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-bednar/) > [A parent who has never apologized to his children is a monster. If he's always apologizing, his children are monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/a-parent-who-has-never-apologized-to-his-children-is-a-monster-if-he/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [The middle years, caught between children and parents, free of neither: the past stretches back too densely, it is too thickly populated, the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-drabble/the-middle-years-caught-between-children-and-parents-free-of-neither/) [Margaret Drabble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-drabble/) > [The nature of the love between a parent and child really is literally stronger than death. As long as either person in that relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-nature-of-the-love-between-a-parent-and-child-really-is-literally/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by Francine du Plessix Gray > [“A heart of fire in a shell of ice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/a-heart-of-fire-in-a-shell-of-ice/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [I think it's one of the reasons I wrote my book later in life. My parents didn't have these extreme alternations of conduct. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/i-think-it-s-one-of-the-reasons-i-wrote-my-book-later-in-life-my/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [The choice between starving and being eaten is an exotic one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/the-choice-between-starving-and-being-eaten-is-an-exotic-one/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [“Ah women, women, my life's plague and chief delight!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/ah-women-women-my-life-s-plague-and-chief-delight/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [All our parents have levels of deviousness. We're driven to write about this discrepancy between the bright shining selves they invented and the monsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/all-our-parents-have-levels-of-deviousness-we-re-driven-to-write/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [Oh, save me God, but not quite yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/oh-save-me-god-but-not-quite-yet/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [“...in Aristotle...leisure is a far more noble, spiritual goal than work...leisure is pursued solely for its own sake...: the pleasures of music and poetry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/in-aristotle-leisure-is-a-far-more-noble-spiritual-goal-than-work/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [The irreversibility of time. That's the hardest thing to accept at our age, that's the most violent aspect of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/the-irreversibility-of-time-that-s-the-hardest-thing-to-accept-at-our/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [Americans and their desire to be novelists, the American novel should be listed in medical dictionaries alongside Megalomania and Obsessional Neuroses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/americans-and-their-desire-to-be-novelists-the-american-novel-should/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [We write out of revenge against reality, to dream and enter the lives of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/we-write-out-of-revenge-against-reality-to-dream-and-enter-the-lives/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [I think we're much more eager to know about our parents than we were in the seventies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/i-think-we-re-much-more-eager-to-know-about-our-parents-than-we-were/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [one forgives parents as naturally as one emancipates oneself from them - usually shortly afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/one-forgives-parents-as-naturally-as-one-emancipates-oneself-from/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [I venture that those of us who are most serene when faced with the possibility of nothingness are the ones who've reached furthest to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/i-venture-that-those-of-us-who-are-most-serene-when-faced-with-the/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [Why are there no great women artists?' sounds as ignorant of human geography as the query 'Why are there no Eskimo tennis teams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/why-are-there-no-great-women-artists-sounds-as-ignorant-of-human/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [If I were ever to go mad it would be on Thanksgiving Day, that day of guilt and grace when the family hangs upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/if-i-were-ever-to-go-mad-it-would-be-on-thanksgiving-day-that-day-of/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) [Explore all 31 Francine du Plessix Gray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) ## More Birth quotes > [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) [Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. 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