--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no dull subjects. There are…" description: "\"There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/h-l-mencken-245_dull_there-are-no-dull-subjects-there-are-onl_548131.png" --- # There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers. ![“There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/h-l-mencken-245_dull_there-are-no-dull-subjects-there-are-onl_548131.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/h-l-mencken-245_dull_there-are-no-dull-subjects-there-are-onl_548131.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/h-l-mencken-245_dull_there-are-no-dull-subjects-there-are-onl_548131.png) > “There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.” [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quality of a subject depends on the writer’s skill, not the topic itself. **In simple terms:** Writers make subjects interesting. Key Takeaway Focus on craft, not topic. Themes writing creativity education Mood inspirational reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - teaching - publishing - content creation - public speaking Key Concepts literary criticism skill development Questions to Reflect On - How can you make any topic engaging? - What habits improve writing? A Different Perspective Even skilled writers can be uninspired by poor topics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull/) [Dull Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull-subjects-4475521/) [Dull Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull-writers-2213027/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Subjects Dull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects-dull-4568594/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers and writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-and-writing/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing by writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-by-writers/) ## Related quotes > [“There are really no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-le-gallienne/there-are-really-no-dull-subjects-there-are-only-dull-writers/) [Richard Le Gallienne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-le-gallienne/) > [If you have other things in your life-family, friends, good productive day work-these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/if-you-have-other-things-in-your-life-family-friends-good-productive/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [If you do not have an alert and curious interest in character and dramatic situation, if you have no visual imagination and are unable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-joseph-harrington-o-brien/if-you-do-not-have-an-alert-and-curious-interest-in-character-and/) [Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-joseph-harrington-o-brien/) > [And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-plotnik/and-we-edit-to-let-the-fire-show-through-the-smoke/) [Arthur Plotnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-plotnik/) > [Literature is all, or mostly, about sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/literature-is-all-or-mostly-about-sex/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/if-you-write-one-story-it-may-be-bad-if-you-write-a-hundred-you-have/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/great-is-the-art-of-beginning-but-greater-is-the-art-of-ending/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/you-learn-by-writing-short-stories-keep-writing-short-stories-the/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) > [Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but that's the only way you can do anything really good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/get-it-down-take-chances-it-may-be-bad-but-that-s-the-only-way-you/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Most writers can write books faster than publishers can write checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-curtis/most-writers-can-write-books-faster-than-publishers-can-write-checks/) [Richard Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-curtis/) > [Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/write-freely-and-as-rapidly-as-possible-and-throw-the-whole-thing-on/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary-it's just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/all-the-words-i-use-in-my-stories-can-be-found-in-the-dictionary-it-s/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-say-really-do-not-know-anything/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/i-think-writer-s-block-is-simply-the-dread-that-you-are-going-to/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) ## More by H. L. Mencken > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A bad artist almost always tries to conceal his incompetence by whooping up a new formula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-bad-artist-almost-always-tries-to-conceal-his-incompetence-by/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man's objection to love is that it dies hard; woman's, that when it is dead, it stays dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-s-objection-to-love-is-that-it-dies-hard-woman-s-that-when-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-lunatic-fringe-wags-the-underdog/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-have-simple-tastes-they-get-pleasure-out-of-the-conversation-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The critic, to interpret his artist, even to understand his artist, must be able to get into the mind of his artist; he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-critic-to-interpret-his-artist-even-to-understand-his-artist-must/) [H. L. 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Mencken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More Dull quotes > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/music-is-the-third-rail-of-life-you-grabbed-it-to-shock-yourself-out/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [Whether one is twenty, forty, or sixty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along; whether yesterday was full of sun or storm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-mitchell-hodges/whether-one-is-twenty-forty-or-sixty-whether-one-has-succeeded-failed/) [Leigh Mitchell Hodges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-mitchell-hodges/) > [I am simply looking for a companion with whom to spend my days, a companion who will cherish as much as I the stupidity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-am-simply-looking-for-a-companion-with-whom-to-spend-my-days-a/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Soothing words can become just another drug we swallow to dull our pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/soothing-words-can-become-just-another-drug-we-swallow-to-dull-our/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > ['You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . .' She turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/you-spin-in-the-sky-the-world-spins-under-you-and-you-step-from-land/) [Samuel R. 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At length the melody steals into my being. I know not when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-thrumming-of-piano-strings-beyond-the-gardens-and-through-the-elms/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Browse all 1,407 Dull quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. 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