--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If it is permissible to write plays that…" description: "\"If it is permissible to write plays that are not intended to be seen, I should like to see who can prevent me from writing a book no one can read.\" — G..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_actor_if-it-is-permissible-to-write-plays-that_222957.png" --- # If it is permissible to write plays that are not intended… ![“If it is permissible to write plays that are not intended to be seen, I should like to see who can prevent me from writing a book no one can read.” quote by Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_actor_if-it-is-permissible-to-write-plays-that_222957.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_actor_if-it-is-permissible-to-write-plays-that_222957.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_actor_if-it-is-permissible-to-write-plays-that_222957.png) > “If it is permissible to write plays that are not intended to be seen, I should like to see who can prevent me from writing a book no one can read.” [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates artistic freedom, questioning censorship and the right to create unreadable works. **In simple terms:** Art should be free from restriction. Key Takeaway Defend creative autonomy. Themes freedom of expression artistic integrity censorship Mood defiant thought‑provoking Type philosophical controversial When to use this quote - publishing - theatre - academic debate - online platforms Key Concepts philosophy literary theory Questions to Reflect On - Should all art be accessible? - When does freedom become harmful? A Different Perspective Censorship can protect societal norms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Permissible Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permissible-write-2272861/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays/) [Plays Intended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays-intended-2272862/) [Prevent Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevent-writing-2272860/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Write Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-plays/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-book/) ## Related quotes > [“...a deadline should not prevent you from writing, but writing will help prevent you from missing your deadline. Then write a word. Then remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-summers/a-deadline-should-not-prevent-you-from-writing-but-writing-will-help/) [Courtney Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-summers/) > [As you write plays, you discover what you believe. And until you know what you believe, you can't write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/as-you-write-plays-you-discover-what-you-believe-and-until-you-know/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I fell into writing plays by accident. But the reason I write plays is that it's the only thing I'm any good at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-fell-into-writing-plays-by-accident-but-the-reason-i-write-plays-is/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/well-all-the-plays-that-i-was-trying-to-write-were-plays-that-would/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [I write plays about big, intense subjects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-write-plays-about-big-intense-subjects/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [When people asked me what I was going to do when I grow up, I always said, 'I'm going to be a writer. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mara-wilson/when-people-asked-me-what-i-was-going-to-do-when-i-grow-up-i-always/) [Mara Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mara-wilson/) > [When I was first starting to write plays, I quite literally had never heard of the idea of studying playwriting. I wouldn't have studied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/when-i-was-first-starting-to-write-plays-i-quite-literally-had-never/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) > [I found it was my good fortune to somehow be able to work in these forms that I loved when I was a kid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-found-it-was-my-good-fortune-to-somehow-be-able-to-work-in-these/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I write plays, and I have a musical that's starting to get produced now. 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Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [The wisdom of providence is as much revealed in the rarity of genius, as in the circumstance that not everyone is deaf or blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/the-wisdom-of-providence-is-as-much-revealed-in-the-rarity-of-genius/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [I ceased in the year 1764 to believe that one can convince one’s opponents with arguments printed in books. It is not to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/i-ceased-in-the-year-1764-to-believe-that-one-can-convince-one-s/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Probably no invention came more easily to man than heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/probably-no-invention-came-more-easily-to-man-than-heaven/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [It is a great shame; most of our words are misused tools / which often still smell of the mud in which previous owners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/it-is-a-great-shame-most-of-our-words-are-misused-tools-which-often/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [To live when you do not want to is dreadful, but it would be even more terrible to be immortal when you did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/to-live-when-you-do-not-want-to-is-dreadful-but-it-would-be-even-more/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [He who understands the wise is wise already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/he-who-understands-the-wise-is-wise-already/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [The fruits of philosophy are the important thing, not the philosophy itself. When we ask the time, we don't want to know how watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/the-fruits-of-philosophy-are-the-important-thing-not-the-philosophy/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [He who says he hates all kinds of flattery, and says so in earnest, has undoubtedly not as yet become acquainted with all kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/he-who-says-he-hates-all-kinds-of-flattery-and-says-so-in-earnest-has/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [One can live in this world on soothsaying but not on truth saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/one-can-live-in-this-world-on-soothsaying-but-not-on-truth-saying/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Actual aristocracy cannot be abolished by any law: all the law can do is decree how it is to be imparted and who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/actual-aristocracy-cannot-be-abolished-by-any-law-all-the-law-can-do/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [One of the greatest and also the commonest of faults is for men to believe that, because they never hear their shortcomings spoken of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/one-of-the-greatest-and-also-the-commonest-of-faults-is-for-men-to/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [People who never have any time on their hands are those who do the least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/people-who-never-have-any-time-on-their-hands-are-those-who-do-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [An hour-glass is a reminder not only of time's quick flight, but also of the dust to which we must at last return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/an-hour-glass-is-a-reminder-not-only-of-time-s-quick-flight-but-also/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) [Explore all 295 Georg C. Lichtenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) ## More Actor quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. 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