--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I have written-and how I came to…" description: "\"What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most powerfully what I am.\" — Hortense Calisher" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png" --- # What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most… ![“What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most powerfully what I am.” quote by Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png) > “What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most powerfully what I am.” [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An author's identity is deeply linked to their work, shaping their self-concept. **In simple terms:** Writing defines self. Key Takeaway Explore your creative voice. Themes identity creativity self-expression Mood introspective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal memoirs - artist statements Key Concepts literary theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does your writing reflect you? - What parts of self remain hidden? A Different Perspective May ignore external influences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Came Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/came-write-2913662/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Most powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/most-powerful/) [Powerfully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerfully-1097789/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Powerfully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-powerfully-3917899/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) [Written Came](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-came-2973924/) ## Related quotes > [“Every word, every sentence, every poem and every chapter of a book I have written came from the bottom of my heart, it's very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/every-word-every-sentence-every-poem-and-every-chapter-of-a-book-i/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [Most of the smart things I've ever thought or written came vis-a-vis my body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-febos/most-of-the-smart-things-i-ve-ever-thought-or-written-came-vis-a-vis/) [Melissa Febos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-febos/) > [My absolute favorite song I've ever written is "This Is Where We Came In." 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I did live theatre, managed a cosmetics store and was a local television personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-brown/i-came-to-write-after-several-mini-careers-i-did-live-theatre-managed/) [Sandra Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-brown/) > [Embarrassingly enough, I often can't remember how I came to write something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/embarrassingly-enough-i-often-can-t-remember-how-i-came-to-write/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If I'm singing powerfully, I need something powerful behind me so that I don't feel like I am left alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarja-turunen/if-i-m-singing-powerfully-i-need-something-powerful-behind-me-so-that/) [Tarja Turunen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarja-turunen/) > [Nothing speaks louder or more powerfully than a life of integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/nothing-speaks-louder-or-more-powerfully-than-a-life-of-integrity/) [Charles R. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-j-smith/) ## More by Hortense Calisher > [Every art is a church without communicants, presided over by a parish of the respectable. An artist is born kneeling; he fights to stand.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/every-art-is-a-church-without-communicants-presided-over-by-a-parish/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [But memory, after a time, dispenses its own emphasis, making a feuilleton of what we once thought most ponderable, laying its wreath on what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/but-memory-after-a-time-dispenses-its-own-emphasis-making-a/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [Women can't travel light. 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Of the muscles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/balance-is-compromise-of-the-muscles/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [Sociology, the guilty science, functions best by alarm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/sociology-the-guilty-science-functions-best-by-alarm/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [The young show the genetic process, the old merely die of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/the-young-show-the-genetic-process-the-old-merely-die-of-it/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [The novel is rescued life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/the-novel-is-rescued-life/) [Hortense Calisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/) > [It has always seemed to me that if you could talk about your work in fully-formed phrases, you wouldn't write it. 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The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just understand that the good that you want is already here. All you have to do is get in harmony with it. And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/just-understand-that-the-good-that-you-want-is-already-here-all-you/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. 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It's just this sense that you got something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/it-s-a-hard-thing-to-describe-it-s-just-this-sense-that-you-got/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [God reveals Himself through surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-reveals-himself-through-surprises/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) [Browse all 114,561 Inspirational quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most powerfully what I am.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hortense Calisher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-write-it-is-most-powerfully/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inspirational" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-write-it-is-most-powerfully/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/hortense-calisher-21501_inspirational_what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-wr_2058819.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What I have written-and how I came to write it-is most powerfully what I am.” — Hortense Calisher", "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": "Hortense Calisher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-calisher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What I have written-and how I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-write-it-is-most-powerfully/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-calisher/what-i-have-written-and-how-i-came-to-write-it-is-most-powerfully/#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 } } ] } ```