---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know that many writers have had to…"
description: "\"I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic cens..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg"
---

#  I know that many writers have had to write under…

![“I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic censorship.” quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg)

> “I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic censorship.”

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Writers often produce remarkable work despite restrictive oversight, as seen with Cervantes under Catholic censorship.

**In simple terms:** Censorship can inspire great novels, like Don Quixote.

Key Takeaway

Use constraints as creative catalysts.

Themes

literature politics resilience

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

analytical historical

When to use this quote

- novel writing
- academic research
- political commentary
- creative workshops

Key Concepts

censorship subversion artistic freedom

Questions to Reflect On

- How does restriction shape storytelling?
- What strategies help writers navigate censorship?

A Different Perspective

Excessive censorship can silence voices entirely.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bedtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bedtime/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [“So...what are you working on now?" “Right now, an essay about Don Quixote.” “One of my favorite books.” “Mine too.” “What’s the gist?” “It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mazzucchelli/so-what-are-you-working-on-now-right-now-an-essay-about-don-quixote/)

[David Mazzucchelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mazzucchelli/)

> [Hauntings are memes, especially pernicious thought contagions, social contagions that need no viral or bacterial host and are transmitted in a thousand different ways.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitl-n-r-kiernan/hauntings-are-memes-especially-pernicious-thought-contagions-social/)

[Caitlín R. Kiernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitl-n-r-kiernan/)

> [Damn it, how will I ever get out of this labyrinth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-bolivar/damn-it-how-will-i-ever-get-out-of-this-labyrinth/)

[Simon Bolivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-bolivar/)

> [My husband is old-fashioned and kind, he does the greatest Sinatra impression, and I'd never have written anything if he hadn't read all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-pearson/my-husband-is-old-fashioned-and-kind-he-does-the-greatest-sinatra/)

[Allison Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-pearson/)

> [Unlike the majority of the writers of his age, La Rochefoucauld was an aristocrat; and this fact gives a peculiar tone to his work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lytton-strachey/unlike-the-majority-of-the-writers-of-his-age-la-rochefoucauld-was-an/)

[Lytton Strachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lytton-strachey/)

> [ My four-year-old daughter regularly requests reading Book One \[the March\] at bedtime; the methods of reading, delivering, and processing the book's content vary according… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-powell/my-four-year-old-daughter-regularly-requests-reading-book-one-the/)

[Nate Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-powell/)

> [Don't fight with the pillow, but lay down your head And kick every worriment out of the bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-vance-cooke/don-t-fight-with-the-pillow-but-lay-down-your-head-and-kick-every/)

[Edmund Vance Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-vance-cooke/)

> [Ah, music, A magic far beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albus-dumbledore/ah-music-a-magic-far-beyond-all-we-do-here-and-now-bedtime-off-you/)

[Albus Dumbledore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albus-dumbledore/)

> [“Bedtime stories Eventide Rhapsodies Anthologies of Memory Please enter cautiously and feel free to open what is closed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/bedtime-stories-eventide-rhapsodies-anthologies-of-memory-please/)

[Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/)

> [Unfortunately, I suffer from insomnia, so my bedtime is as soon as I start to feel the least bit sleepy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheyenne-jackson/unfortunately-i-suffer-from-insomnia-so-my-bedtime-is-as-soon-as-i/)

[Cheyenne Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheyenne-jackson/)

> [And, of course, some SF is set close enough to here and now that Anglo and European do apply. Since many of the writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-schmidt/and-of-course-some-sf-is-set-close-enough-to-here-and-now-that-anglo/)

[Stanley Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-schmidt/)

> [So much for modern science and its wonderful discoveries that just about everything can kill you. Life is only a bedtime story before a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bloch/so-much-for-modern-science-and-its-wonderful-discoveries-that-just/)

[Robert Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bloch/)

> [“Once the umbilical cord falls off, bathe every evening as a matter of routine. Babies learn by association and they will associate bath time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-walker/once-the-umbilical-cord-falls-off-bathe-every-evening-as-a-matter-of/)

Jennifer Walker

> [When I was very young my mother sang to me at bedtime and my dad would often play the banjo or fiddle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-block/when-i-was-very-young-my-mother-sang-to-me-at-bedtime-and-my-dad/)

Rory Block

> [I would give anything to be able to kick a ball with my son or read the kids a bedtime story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-burrow/i-would-give-anything-to-be-able-to-kick-a-ball-with-my-son-or-read/)

[Rob Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-burrow/)

## More by Guillermo Cabrera Infante

> [Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/watching-a-movie-from-beginning-to-end-is-like-reading-because-even/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-read-the-odyssey-because-it-was-the-story-of-a-man-who-returned/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [Dialogue in fiction is always written to be read in silence. The page is the limit. Dialogue on stage and on the screen is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/dialogue-in-fiction-is-always-written-to-be-read-in-silence-the-page/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I am a writer of fragments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-am-a-writer-of-fragments/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [No, absolutely not, writing doesn't have to be like a jigsaw puzzle, it can be a very linear undertaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/no-absolutely-not-writing-doesn-t-have-to-be-like-a-jigsaw-puzzle-it/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [Well, I write in exile because I cannot return to my country, so I have no choice but to see myself as an exiled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/well-i-write-in-exile-because-i-cannot-return-to-my-country-so-i-have/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/for-me-literature-is-a-complex-game-both-mental-and-concrete-which-is/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I do not consider myself a Hispanic writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-do-not-consider-myself-a-hispanic-writer/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/the-relationship-between-reader-and-characters-is-very-difficult-it/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I think writers rush in where everybody is very frightened to tread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-think-writers-rush-in-where-everybody-is-very-frightened-to-tread/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I was never a true journalist, I was a movie critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-was-never-a-true-journalist-i-was-a-movie-critic/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [A good smoker, like a good lover, always takes his time with a cigar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/a-good-smoker-like-a-good-lover-always-takes-his-time-with-a-cigar/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I do not believe in inspiration, but I must have a title in order to work, otherwise I am lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-do-not-believe-in-inspiration-but-i-must-have-a-title-in-order-to/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [You are just in the middle of a struggle with words which are really very stubborn things, with a blank page, with the damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/you-are-just-in-the-middle-of-a-struggle-with-words-which-are-really/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [I live in London and I am a British subject, although I do write in Spanish, of course](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-live-in-london-and-i-am-a-british-subject-although-i-do-write-in/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

[Explore all 54 Guillermo Cabrera Infante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

## More Bedtime quotes

> [I would give anything to be able to kick a ball with my son or read the kids a bedtime story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-burrow/i-would-give-anything-to-be-able-to-kick-a-ball-with-my-son-or-read/)

[Rob Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-burrow/)

> [When I was very young my mother sang to me at bedtime and my dad would often play the banjo or fiddle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-block/when-i-was-very-young-my-mother-sang-to-me-at-bedtime-and-my-dad/)

Rory Block

> [“Once the umbilical cord falls off, bathe every evening as a matter of routine. Babies learn by association and they will associate bath time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-walker/once-the-umbilical-cord-falls-off-bathe-every-evening-as-a-matter-of/)

Jennifer Walker

> [So much for modern science and its wonderful discoveries that just about everything can kill you. Life is only a bedtime story before a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bloch/so-much-for-modern-science-and-its-wonderful-discoveries-that-just/)

[Robert Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bloch/)

> [And, of course, some SF is set close enough to here and now that Anglo and European do apply. Since many of the writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-schmidt/and-of-course-some-sf-is-set-close-enough-to-here-and-now-that-anglo/)

[Stanley Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-schmidt/)

> [Unfortunately, I suffer from insomnia, so my bedtime is as soon as I start to feel the least bit sleepy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheyenne-jackson/unfortunately-i-suffer-from-insomnia-so-my-bedtime-is-as-soon-as-i/)

[Cheyenne Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheyenne-jackson/)

> [“Bedtime stories Eventide Rhapsodies Anthologies of Memory Please enter cautiously and feel free to open what is closed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/bedtime-stories-eventide-rhapsodies-anthologies-of-memory-please/)

[Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/)

> [Ah, music, A magic far beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albus-dumbledore/ah-music-a-magic-far-beyond-all-we-do-here-and-now-bedtime-off-you/)

[Albus Dumbledore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albus-dumbledore/)

> [Don't fight with the pillow, but lay down your head And kick every worriment out of the bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-vance-cooke/don-t-fight-with-the-pillow-but-lay-down-your-head-and-kick-every/)

[Edmund Vance Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-vance-cooke/)

> [ My four-year-old daughter regularly requests reading Book One \[the March\] at bedtime; the methods of reading, delivering, and processing the book's content vary according… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-powell/my-four-year-old-daughter-regularly-requests-reading-book-one-the/)

[Nate Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-powell/)

> [Unlike the majority of the writers of his age, La Rochefoucauld was an aristocrat; and this fact gives a peculiar tone to his work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lytton-strachey/unlike-the-majority-of-the-writers-of-his-age-la-rochefoucauld-was-an/)

[Lytton Strachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lytton-strachey/)

> [My husband is old-fashioned and kind, he does the greatest Sinatra impression, and I'd never have written anything if he hadn't read all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-pearson/my-husband-is-old-fashioned-and-kind-he-does-the-greatest-sinatra/)

[Allison Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-pearson/)

> [Damn it, how will I ever get out of this labyrinth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-bolivar/damn-it-how-will-i-ever-get-out-of-this-labyrinth/)

[Simon Bolivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-bolivar/)

> [Hauntings are memes, especially pernicious thought contagions, social contagions that need no viral or bacterial host and are transmitted in a thousand different ways.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitl-n-r-kiernan/hauntings-are-memes-especially-pernicious-thought-contagions-social/)

[Caitlín R. Kiernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitl-n-r-kiernan/)

> [I used to go to Cold Stone Creamery, get a tub of Butterfinger ice cream, and eat it all before bedtime. And my fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/i-used-to-go-to-cold-stone-creamery-get-a-tub-of-butterfinger-ice/)

[Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/)

[Browse all 215 Bedtime quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bedtime/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic censorship.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Guillermo Cabrera Infante"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-write-under-censorship-and-yet/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bedtime"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-write-under-censorship-and-yet/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_bedtime_i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-wri_685421.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance…” — Guillermo Cabrera Infante",
                "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": "Guillermo Cabrera Infante",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I know that many writers have...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-write-under-censorship-and-yet/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-write-under-censorship-and-yet/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```