--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think, for the writer, rather as for…" description: "\"“I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there isn't such a thing as success.”\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg" --- # I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there… ![“I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there isn't such a thing as success.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg) > ““I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there isn't such a thing as success.”” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writer's success is elusive, unlike priestly authority; success is not a clear, measurable goal for creators. **In simple terms:** Success for writers is vague. Key Takeaway Accept ambiguity and focus on craft. Themes creativity success writing Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - publishing - personal projects - artistic development Key Concepts existentialism authorial identity Questions to Reflect On - How do you measure success in creative work? - What does success mean to you beyond fame? A Different Perspective Success may be defined by personal fulfillment, not external metrics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) [Priest Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest-isn-3918801/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Thing Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-success-1551470/) [Think Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-writer/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-priest-2337189/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [ \[A writer is\] a priest of eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/a-writer-is-a-priest-of-eternal-imagination-transmuting-the-daily/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-berlin/the-toughest-thing-about-success-is-that-you-ve-got-to-keep-on-being-3/) [Irving Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-berlin/) > [The worst thing to do with success, is to boast about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-worst-thing-to-do-with-success-is-to-boast-about-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The only thing success should do is make you more humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-meyer/the-only-thing-success-should-do-is-make-you-more-humble/) [Don Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-meyer/) > [Eventually, the most important thing is success. I want to achieve a lot of success. It doesn't feel good when your film doesn't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-kapoor/eventually-the-most-important-thing-is-success-i-want-to-achieve-a/) [Shahid Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-kapoor/) > [The best thing about success was being able to buy my parents a house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-tyler/the-best-thing-about-success-was-being-able-to-buy-my-parents-a-house/) [Bonnie Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-tyler/) > [There's no one thing you can do to have success, but if you have a plan and you keep doing things, you'll eventually build…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-rose/there-s-no-one-thing-you-can-do-to-have-success-but-if-you-have-a/) [M.J. Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-rose/) > [The hardest thing to have is success, because it seems to tell people what you are. But it doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morten-harket/the-hardest-thing-to-have-is-success-because-it-seems-to-tell-people/) [Morten Harket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morten-harket/) > [One thing that success has taught me is censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-emin/one-thing-that-success-has-taught-me-is-censorship/) [Tracey Emin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-emin/) > [There's no such thing as success on an isolated level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/questlove/there-s-no-such-thing-as-success-on-an-isolated-level/) [Questlove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/questlove/) > [“If I had a message to my contemporaries it is surely this: Be anything you like, be madmen, drunks, and bastards of every shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-i-had-a-message-to-my-contemporaries-it-is-surely-this-be-anything/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If you start today to do the right thing, you are already a success even if it doesn’t show yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-start-today-to-do-the-right-thing-you-are-already-a-success-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing is done easily, first have the thing, then the thing has a success, then all sorts of difficulties arise through the success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninette-de-valois/nothing-is-done-easily-first-have-the-thing-then-the-thing-has-a/) [Ninette de Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninette-de-valois/) > [There is no such thing as to much success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rodriguez/there-is-no-such-thing-as-to-much-success/) [John Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rodriguez/) > [If you start today to do the right thing, you are already a success even if it doesnt show yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maxwell/if-you-start-today-to-do-the-right-thing-you-are-already-a-success/) [John Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maxwell/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Priest quotes > [When I was in high school, I was a bad singer. I mean, all my early acting was musical theater, and my first ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-claflin/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-was-a-bad-singer-i-mean-all-my-early/) [Sam Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-claflin/) > [So long as the priest, that professional negator, slanderer and poisoner of life, is regarded as a superior type of human being, there cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/so-long-as-the-priest-that-professional-negator-slanderer-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-of-lisieux/i-feel-in-me-the-vocation-of-the-priest-i-have-the-vocation-of-the/) [Therese of Lisieux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-of-lisieux/) > [There's this great fear, and I find, lack of knowledge of Catholicism, just like I'm ignorant of other things. I think we should all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-hicks/there-s-this-great-fear-and-i-find-lack-of-knowledge-of-catholicism/) [Catherine Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-hicks/) > [“In all your years as a priest, I’m sure you’ve been asked this many times: ‘Why does he do this if he loves us?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-finney/in-all-your-years-as-a-priest-i-m-sure-you-ve-been-asked-this-many/) [Richard Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-finney/) > [“I left that church with rich and royal hatred of the priest as a person, and a loathing for the church as an institution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/i-left-that-church-with-rich-and-royal-hatred-of-the-priest-as-a/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [ \[To a priest who smoked:\] What a shame for a man to dress like a saint and smell like a devil! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nation/to-a-priest-who-smoked-what-a-shame-for-a-man-to-dress-like-a-saint/) [Carrie Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nation/) > [I did the good priest and the bad and felt that I am getting stereotyped in priest roles. I am not picking them anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-mathew/i-did-the-good-priest-and-the-bad-and-felt-that-i-am-getting/) [Joy Mathew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-mathew/) > [People ask me what I think about that woman priest thing. What, a woman priest? Women priests. Great, great. Now there's priests of both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/people-ask-me-what-i-think-about-that-woman-priest-thing-what-a-woman/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [“Go to a goddamn priest if you wanna be lied to. I've seen too many of your kind slip back inside to fool myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/go-to-a-goddamn-priest-if-you-wanna-be-lied-to-i-ve-seen-too-many-of/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [The minister and the priest teach that the organization is greater. No great philosophy has ever come from an organization, but from an individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-twitchell/the-minister-and-the-priest-teach-that-the-organization-is-greater-no/) [Paul Twitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-twitchell/) > [To image the being of God towards the world, to be the priest of creation, is to behave towards the world in all its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-gunton/to-image-the-being-of-god-towards-the-world-to-be-the-priest-of/) [Colin Gunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-gunton/) > [A priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense esprit de corps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-priest-is-a-man-vowed-trained-and-consecrated-a-man-belonging-to-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [“The priest must preach the pure words of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-priest-must-preach-the-pure-words-of-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Who am I? I am a teller of stories. I have lived as a priest, a prince, and a peasant. I have known the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-holman/who-am-i-i-am-a-teller-of-stories-i-have-lived-as-a-priest-a-prince/) [Sarah Holman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-holman/) [Browse all 353 Priest quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there isn't such a thing as success.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the-priest-there-isn-t-such-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Priest" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the-priest-there-isn-t-such-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/graham-greene-441_priest_i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the_448339.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think, for the writer, rather as for the priest, there isn't such a thing as success.” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I think, for the writer, rather...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the-priest-there-isn-t-such-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-think-for-the-writer-rather-as-for-the-priest-there-isn-t-such-a/#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 } } ] } ```