--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People meet writers and are bowled over…" description: "\"People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house for a glass of wine or to shoot up heroin or ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg" --- # People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is… ![“People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house for a glass of wine or to shoot up heroin or whatever they do, and they talk their heads off, and a year later it comes out in a book, and there follow years of bitter and fruitless…” quote by Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg) > “People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house for a glass of wine or to shoot up heroin or whatever they do, and they talk their heads off, and a year later it comes out in a book, and there follow years of bitter and fruitless litigation, and that is why you should always keep a writer at arm's length.” [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers who become too personal with subjects risk exploitation and legal trouble; maintain professional distance. **In simple terms:** Keep writers at arm's length. Key Takeaway Maintain professional boundaries with writers. Themes ethics literature relationships Mood skeptical reflective Type ethical practical When to use this quote - publishing contracts - author interviews - creative collaborations - media ethics Key Concepts privacy exploitation legal risk Questions to Reflect On - When does friendliness become a liability? - How to protect both parties? A Different Perspective Close relationships can compromise objectivity and lead to litigation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arms/) [Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Friendly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendly/) [Glasses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glasses/) [Heroin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroin/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Invites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invites/) [Length](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/length/) [Meet Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meet-writers-929565/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) [Wine glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine-glass/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Friendly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-friendly-4838529/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Bowled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-bowled-4838530/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [We all need something to help us unwind at the end of the day. You might have a glass of wine, or a joint,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/we-all-need-something-to-help-us-unwind-at-the-end-of-the-day-you/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [I get to meet writers, and I love writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-busch/i-get-to-meet-writers-and-i-love-writers/) [Frederick Busch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-busch/) > [Read as much as you write. Go out and meet other writers. Look for stories in everything around you - music, movies, family, strangers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-sampsell/read-as-much-as-you-write-go-out-and-meet-other-writers-look-for/) [Kevin Sampsell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-sampsell/) > [It's that kind of thing that readers have. I have it as a reader myself: that expectation that the writer will be that person.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/it-s-that-kind-of-thing-that-readers-have-i-have-it-as-a-reader/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I'm useless when I meet writers I love - I go slack-jawed and stupid with awe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-boo/i-m-useless-when-i-meet-writers-i-love-i-go-slack-jawed-and-stupid/) [Katherine Boo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-boo/) > [When you're a writer in Hollywood, you don't get to work with other writers. You barely get to meet other writers. We're interchangeable, disposable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-kinberg/when-you-re-a-writer-in-hollywood-you-don-t-get-to-work-with-other/) [Simon Kinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-kinberg/) > [ \[I am more than happy to invite my five favorite fictional characters.\]Roland Deschain from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. There's a whole world about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-chance/i-am-more-than-happy-to-invite-my-five-favorite-fictional-characters/) [Megan Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-chance/) > [I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-felt-once-more-how-simple-and-frugal-a-thing-is-happiness-a-glass/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Happiness is a chance to talk to a friend, to hear good music, to have a good glass of wine. Happiness is a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/happiness-is-a-chance-to-talk-to-a-friend-to-hear-good-music-to-have/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Seventeen, eh!" said Hagrid as he accepted a bucket-sized glass of wine from Fred. 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We will probably never know in what sense he meant that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/a-poet-once-said-the-whole-universe-is-in-a-glass-of-wine-we-will/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [“Any thought that you are better or less Than another man Quickly Breaks the wine Glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ladinsky/any-thought-that-you-are-better-or-less-than-another-man-quickly/) [Daniel Ladinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ladinsky/) > [“Being held by him, kissed and mastered, taken under and swept away, enthralled her in a way she—an independent woman if nothing else in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-sumner/being-held-by-him-kissed-and-mastered-taken-under-and-swept-away/) [Tracy Sumner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-sumner/) ## More by Garrison Keillor > [God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/god-writes-a-lot-of-comedy-the-trouble-is-he-s-stuck-with-so-many-bad/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [The socially redeeming aspect of golf lies in the vast number of lawyers and bankers and managers who play it, and when you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-socially-redeeming-aspect-of-golf-lies-in-the-vast-number-of/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [God plays a lot of jokes on us to get our attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/god-plays-a-lot-of-jokes-on-us-to-get-our-attention/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Ha! Easy for nuns to talk about giving up things. That's what they do for a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/ha-easy-for-nuns-to-talk-about-giving-up-things-that-s-what-they-do/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [This is the big reason most humorists fail. Drunks don't read books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/this-is-the-big-reason-most-humorists-fail-drunks-don-t-read-books/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Before the world was made, when it was only darkness and mist and waters, God was well aware of Lake Wobegon, my family, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/before-the-world-was-made-when-it-was-only-darkness-and-mist-and/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [On investments, 1998: Where I'm from we don't trust paper. Wealth is what's here on the premises. If I open a cupboard and see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/on-investments-1998-where-i-m-from-we-don-t-trust-paper-wealth-is/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [“The rich can afford to be progressive. Poor people have reason to be afraid of the future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-rich-can-afford-to-be-progressive-poor-people-have-reason-to-be/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [English is the perfect language for preachers because it allows you to talk until you think of what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/english-is-the-perfect-language-for-preachers-because-it-allows-you/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [“If you can't read a simple goddam sign and follow one simple goddam instruction then get your fat butt the hell out of here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/if-you-can-t-read-a-simple-goddam-sign-and-follow-one-simple-goddam/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [“The Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-gospel-is-meant-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I don't want them to be told to remember me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/i-don-t-want-them-to-be-told-to-remember-me/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Childhood is the small town everyone came from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/childhood-is-the-small-town-everyone-came-from/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I have taken so many wrong turns and been so careless with precious things and managed to lose, or break, or leave out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/i-have-taken-so-many-wrong-turns-and-been-so-careless-with-precious/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Where I'm from we don't trust paper. 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Are the cords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/are-we-fighting-i-asked-morelli-no-were-discussing-are-you-sure-am-i/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Comerado, this is no book,Who touches this, touches a man,(Is it night? Are we here alone?)It is I you hold, and who holds you,I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/comerado-this-is-no-book-who-touches-this-touches-a-man-is-it-night/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Even the stove and the refrigerator looked human, I mean good human - they seemed to have arms and voices and they said, hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/even-the-stove-and-the-refrigerator-looked-human-i-mean-good-human/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. 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"I'm beginning to look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-lindsey/another-step-had-her-backed-up-against-the-wall-and-he-braced-his/) [Johanna Lindsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-lindsey/) [Browse all 4,470 Arms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house for a glass of wine or to shoot up heroin or whatever they do, and they talk their heads off, and a year later it comes out in a book, and there follow years of bitter and fruitless litigation, and that is why you should always keep a writer at arm's length.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Garrison Keillor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over-when-the-writer-is-friendly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over-when-the-writer-is-friendly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/garrison-keillor-1037_arms_people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over_3012713.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house…” — Garrison Keillor", "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": "Garrison Keillor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People meet writers and are bowled...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over-when-the-writer-is-friendly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/people-meet-writers-and-are-bowled-over-when-the-writer-is-friendly/#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 } } ] } ```