--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't write about what you don't know…" description: "\"Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't know it.\" — Gertrude Stein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg" --- # Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't… ![“Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't know it.” quote by Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg) > “Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't know it.” [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Write only on subjects you truly understand to maintain authenticity **In simple terms:** Speak only on what you know Key Takeaway Avoid writing about unknown topics Themes authenticity integrity expertise Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - journalism - academic research - personal memoirs Key Concepts epistemology creative honesty Questions to Reflect On - What are the benefits of writing outside your comfort zone? - How can you ensure authenticity while exploring new topics? A Different Perspective Risk of limiting creative exploration if overly cautious ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Don Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-know/) [Don Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-write/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Don](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-don-397638/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Don't write about that which you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/don-t-write-about-that-which-you-don-t-know/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I write it to get it out of me. I don't write it to remember it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/i-write-it-to-get-it-out-of-me-i-don-t-write-it-to-remember-it/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“Write or don't write. There is only try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-smith/write-or-don-t-write-there-is-only-try/) [Kim Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-smith/) > [“Don’t write yourself off. If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t be able to function.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-niven/don-t-write-yourself-off-if-you-don-t-believe-in-yourself-you-won-t/) [David Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-niven/) > [Most of my work is, I get an idea, and, with the help of Wikipedia, I can write. I don't have to leave my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-rich/most-of-my-work-is-i-get-an-idea-and-with-the-help-of-wikipedia-i-can/) [Simon Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-rich/) > [I don't write for any particular kind of person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wesley/i-don-t-write-for-any-particular-kind-of-person/) [Mary Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wesley/) > [I don't write autobiographically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/i-don-t-write-autobiographically/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [When you're rich you don't write checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-moss/when-you-re-rich-you-don-t-write-checks/) [Randy Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-moss/) > [Whatever you write about me, don't make it sad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-hayworth/whatever-you-write-about-me-don-t-make-it-sad/) [Rita Hayworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-hayworth/) > [When ideas come, I write them; when they don't come, I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/when-ideas-come-i-write-them-when-they-don-t-come-i-don-t/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [You can't write if you don't read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-earle/you-can-t-write-if-you-don-t-read/) [Steve Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-earle/) > [I can't write what I don't believe in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/i-can-t-write-what-i-don-t-believe-in/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [We write about what we don't know about what we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/we-write-about-what-we-don-t-know-about-what-we-know/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Write about what you don't know about what you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/write-about-what-you-don-t-know-about-what-you-know/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [I can't not write, if I don't then I get really depressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alanis-morissette/i-can-t-not-write-if-i-don-t-then-i-get-really-depressed/) [Alanis Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alanis-morissette/) ## More by Gertrude Stein > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“When is there some discharge when. There never is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/when-is-there-some-discharge-when-there-never-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [There is no such thing as repetition. Only insistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/there-is-no-such-thing-as-repetition-only-insistance/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I am I because my little dog knows me but, creatively speaking the little dog knowing that you are you and your recognising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-am-i-because-my-little-dog-knows-me-but-creatively-speaking-the/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [How likely are definitions to be pleasurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/how-likely-are-definitions-to-be-pleasurable/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [ “What is the answer?" \[ I \[Alice B Toklas\] was silent \] In that case, what is the question?” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/what-is-the-answer-i-alice-b-toklas-was-silent-in-that-case-what-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [More and more I like to take a train. I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling it is so much more sociable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/more-and-more-i-like-to-take-a-train-i-understand-why-the-french/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Adventure is making the distant approach nearer but romance is having what is where it is which is not where you are stay where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/adventure-is-making-the-distant-approach-nearer-but-romance-is-having/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/eating-and-sleeping-are-not-like-loving-and-breathing-washing-is-not/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-the-strangers-dear-readers-are-an/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/a-bag-which-was-left-and-not-only-taken-but-turned-away-was-not-found/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I don't envisage collectivism. There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) [Explore all 418 Gertrude Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More Funny quotes > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. 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Think AS the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-fishman/don-t-think-of-the-market-think-as-the-market/) [Michael Fishman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-fishman/) [Browse all 39,858 Funny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't know it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gertrude Stein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-even-if-you-don-t-know-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Funny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-even-if-you-don-t-know-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/gertrude-stein-667_funny_don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-ev_356669.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't write about what you don't know even if you don't know it.” — Gertrude Stein", "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": "Gertrude Stein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don't write about what you don't...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-even-if-you-don-t-know-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/don-t-write-about-what-you-don-t-know-even-if-you-don-t-know-it/#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 } } ] } ```