--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to joke about this but I've…" description: "\"I used to joke about this but I've recently realized that I really believe it: I spent many years training myself to write very slowly for pretty good ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/george-saunders-317_believe_i-used-to-joke-about-this-but-i-ve-recen_1682589.jpg" --- # I used to joke about this but I've recently realized that… ![“I used to joke about this but I've recently realized that I really believe it: I spent many years training myself to write very slowly for pretty good money. So the idea of writing really quickly for free offends me.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/george-saunders-317_believe_i-used-to-joke-about-this-but-i-ve-recen_1682589.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/george-saunders-317_believe_i-used-to-joke-about-this-but-i-ve-recen_1682589.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/george-saunders-317_believe_i-used-to-joke-about-this-but-i-ve-recen_1682589.jpg) > “I used to joke about this but I've recently realized that I really believe it: I spent many years training myself to write very slowly for pretty good money. So the idea of writing really quickly for free offends me.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects on a personal belief that slow, paid writing feels more respectable than fast, free writing, revealing tension between labor value and creative speed. **In simple terms:** Slow paid work feels more respectable than fast free work. Key Takeaway Value effort over speed. Themes labor creativity self‑perception Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - writing - publishing - freelance gigs Key Concepts value of work speed vs quality creative identity Questions to Reflect On - Do you equate speed with quality? - How does payment affect your creative pride? A Different Perspective Fast work can be undervalued. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Good money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-money/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Pretty good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretty-good/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) [Training Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training-write-971939/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-slowly-609985/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-really/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [I don't really do much social media. I just don't like it that much. I've trained myself to write very slowly for a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-don-t-really-do-much-social-media-i-just-don-t-like-it-that-much-i/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I think my science career had an arc to it that peaked in, let's say 2003/2004. 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It takes a year to write book and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-write-slowly-by-hand-publishing-is-effectively-bankrupt-for-you/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I write very, very slowly, and for me, I have to summon all sorts of resources to make one of these pieces work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-write-very-very-slowly-and-for-me-i-have-to-summon-all-sorts-of/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [No... a novel is a long business. I'm a slow writer, even when I'm doing very well I write slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/no-a-novel-is-a-long-business-i-m-a-slow-writer-even-when-i-m-doing/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I write slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-write-slowly/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [You know that I write slowly. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-m-such-a-slow-writer-i-have-no-need-for-anything-as-fast-as-a-word/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I write slowly. I can't move on until I've got a paragraph right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-write-slowly-i-can-t-move-on-until-i-ve-got-a-paragraph-right/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Required to be constantly recumbent I write slowly and with difficulty… Weakened in body by infirmities and in mind by age, now far gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/required-to-be-constantly-recumbent-i-write-slowly-and-with/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I'm not a speed writer. I write slowly and revise obsessively. The end result tends to be good. That's where my strength is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-m-not-a-speed-writer-i-write-slowly-and-revise-obsessively-the-end/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) ## More by George Saunders > [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/wow-wow-wow-is-all-i-can-say-remember-how-i-always-buy-lunchtime/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“None of it was real; nothing was real. Everything was real; inconceivably real, infinitely dear. 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Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/a-clinton-staffer-tells-me-his-theory-think-about-frank-sinatra-he/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-try-we-fail-we-posture-we-aspire-we-pontificate-and-then-we-age/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. 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