--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a friendly one. I would still like to…" description: "\"As a friendly one. I would still like to write concrete poems, but I can only do it sometimes.\" — Ian Hamilton Finlay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/ian-hamilton-finlay-26772_concrete_as-a-friendly-one-i-would-still-like-to_1878697.png" --- # As a friendly one. I would still like to write concrete… ![“As a friendly one. I would still like to write concrete poems, but I can only do it sometimes.” quote by Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/ian-hamilton-finlay-26772_concrete_as-a-friendly-one-i-would-still-like-to_1878697.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/ian-hamilton-finlay-26772_concrete_as-a-friendly-one-i-would-still-like-to_1878697.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/ian-hamilton-finlay-26772_concrete_as-a-friendly-one-i-would-still-like-to_1878697.png) > “As a friendly one. I would still like to write concrete poems, but I can only do it sometimes.” [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Finlay wishes to write concrete poems but feels limited by occasional inspiration. **In simple terms:** He wants to write but can only do so sometimes. Key Takeaway Accept creative rhythms and work when inspired. Themes creativity poetry discipline inspiration art Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary personal When to use this quote - personal writing - workshops - poetry readings - creative retreats Key Concepts concrete poetry creative flow artistic restraint Questions to Reflect On - What conditions foster your best writing? - Can structure improve sporadic inspiration? A Different Perspective Inconsistent output may hinder mastery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) [Concrete Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete-poems-2276379/) [Friendly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendly/) [Friendly Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendly-like-2639039/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Like Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-write/) [Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Write Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-concrete-2639038/) ## Related quotes > [I'm interested in concrete poems - anything that complicates the line between the written and the visual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/i-m-interested-in-concrete-poems-anything-that-complicates-the-line/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [“I think she is beautiful, but in a way that is not friendly, like in a way that just makes me want her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-m-alghanem/i-think-she-is-beautiful-but-in-a-way-that-is-not-friendly-like-in-a/) [Abraham M. Alghanem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-m-alghanem/) > [“We were all very friendly but we were like 4 monarchs each doing their own thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickenson/we-were-all-very-friendly-but-we-were-like-4-monarchs-each-doing/) [Emily Dickenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickenson/) > [But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/but-i-can-only-write-what-the-muse-allows-me-to-write-i-cannot-choose/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [I sort of always like to write starting with when I learned how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinkwater/i-sort-of-always-like-to-write-starting-with-when-i-learned-how/) [Daniel Pinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinkwater/) > [Everybody won’t like everything you write. Some people won’t like anything you write. Get over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/everybody-won-t-like-everything-you-write-some-people-won-t-like/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I have offices all over the place and I avoid work everywhere. I don't like to write - I like to be finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-price/i-have-offices-all-over-the-place-and-i-avoid-work-everywhere-i-don-t/) [Richard Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-price/) > [I digress a lot - it's how I experience the world. I would like to write in a way that will convey that to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-digress-a-lot-it-s-how-i-experience-the-world-i-would-like-to-write/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [I think in most cases, unless you're writing about a character who is garrulous, you say what you've got to say and then get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-newman/i-think-in-most-cases-unless-you-re-writing-about-a-character-who-is/) [Randy Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-newman/) > [I spend most of every day writing. I like to write every day if I can. I don't start extremely early.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-spend-most-of-every-day-writing-i-like-to-write-every-day-if-i-can/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/people-like-me-write-because-otherwise-we-are-pretty-inarticulate-our/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [I'm lucky enough to exist in 2018, where I have a record label that's like, 'Write whatever you want to write.' I don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troye-sivan/i-m-lucky-enough-to-exist-in-2018-where-i-have-a-record-label-that-s/) [Troye Sivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troye-sivan/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-write-because-i-like-to-write-i-find-joy-in-the-texture-and-tone/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [That's what it feels like when I write, like I have this beautiful world in my head, but when I try to remember it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/that-s-what-it-feels-like-when-i-write-like-i-have-this-beautiful/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I'm writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-like-to-write-first-person-because-i-like-to-become-the-character-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## More by Ian Hamilton Finlay > [I am always a beginner. I only try to include different parts of life; the pastoral, the tragic, et cetera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/i-am-always-a-beginner-i-only-try-to-include-different-parts-of-life/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [I have often said that just as the French revolution, for instance, understood itself through antiquity, I think our time can be understood through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/i-have-often-said-that-just-as-the-french-revolution-for-instance/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/but-i-can-only-write-what-the-muse-allows-me-to-write-i-cannot-choose/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [But you have to understand that I consider myself a very modest artist, or whatever, and not of importance really at all - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/but-you-have-to-understand-that-i-consider-myself-a-very-modest/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [However, I don't feel the world is looking over my shoulder when I am working - I never think about this at all. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/however-i-don-t-feel-the-world-is-looking-over-my-shoulder-when-i-am/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [The same sort of thing happened in my dispute with the National Trust book: Follies: A National Trust Guide, which implied that the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/the-same-sort-of-thing-happened-in-my-dispute-with-the-national-trust/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [If the work is pure then you have to think it could be understood. If it is not understood it doesn't mean that your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/if-the-work-is-pure-then-you-have-to-think-it-could-be-understood-if/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [The present order is the disorder of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/the-present-order-is-the-disorder-of-the-future/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/certain-gardens-are-described-as-retreats-when-they-are-really-attacks/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [No, I don't make my work in order to challenge or confuse other people's expectations - I only do what I find natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/no-i-don-t-make-my-work-in-order-to-challenge-or-confuse-other-people/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [Little Sparta is a garden in the traditional sense. It is perhaps not like other modern gardens, but I think that other times would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/little-sparta-is-a-garden-in-the-traditional-sense-it-is-perhaps-not/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/but-at-the-beginning-it-was-clear-to-me-that-concrete-poetry-was/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [I came to these mediums through having the garden, and of course, people who have designed gardens have always worked in collaboration, and never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/i-came-to-these-mediums-through-having-the-garden-and-of-course/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [People have always found me challenging - I don't know why, when I am only being myself. I don't understand why they find me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/people-have-always-found-me-challenging-i-don-t-know-why-when-i-am/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) > [My position is that since the non-secular status of my garden is not recognised by the law; by the world of the public, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hamilton-finlay/my-position-is-that-since-the-non-secular-status-of-my-garden-is-not/) [Ian Hamilton Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) [Explore all 21 Ian Hamilton Finlay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hamilton-finlay/) ## More Concrete quotes > [I used a psychologist when I was playing, It's one of the most powerful things: how you can have a concrete head and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-parker/i-used-a-psychologist-when-i-was-playing-it-s-one-of-the-most/) [Scott Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-parker/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [I just can't recruit where there's grass around. You gotta have a concrete lawn before I feel comfortable enough to go in and talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/i-just-can-t-recruit-where-there-s-grass-around-you-gotta-have-a/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [While much of modern behavioral and social science treats individuals as autonomous agents, it is absolutely clear that the way we think and act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-r-nelson/while-much-of-modern-behavioral-and-social-science-treats-individuals/) [Richard R. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-r-nelson/) > [...it is a very risky thing for anyone to go about proclaiming the truth simply because he finds himself in possession of concrete documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-amado/it-is-a-very-risky-thing-for-anyone-to-go-about-proclaiming-the-truth/) [Jorge Amado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-amado/) > [Perhaps, if science is clever enough to see, it will realize that religion may not be too far off with its concrete imagery; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lanza/perhaps-if-science-is-clever-enough-to-see-it-will-realize-that/) [Robert Lanza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lanza/) > [“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/but-what-a-feeling-can-come-over-a-man-just-from-seeing-the-things-he/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [There's a point in me where it's beyond sad, seeing the state of the world today. It's so screwed up. It's terrible, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/there-s-a-point-in-me-where-it-s-beyond-sad-seeing-the-state-of-the/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-psychological-condition-of-fear-is-divorced-from-any-concrete-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Every design is a rigorous attempt to capture a concrete moment of a transitory image in all its nuances. The extent to which this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvaro-siza-vieira/every-design-is-a-rigorous-attempt-to-capture-a-concrete-moment-of-a/) [Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvaro-siza-vieira/) > [Once you stop talking about the female body empowering itself vis-à-vis male forays or invasions or male demands or the necessity to respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/once-you-stop-talking-about-the-female-body-empowering-itself-vis-vis/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [To slide into the domed reading room at ten each morning, specially in summer, off the hot street outside, was a sensation as delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/to-slide-into-the-domed-reading-room-at-ten-each-morning-specially-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Like the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/like-the-good-samaritan-may-we-not-be-ashamed-of-touching-the-wounds/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) [Browse all 868 Concrete quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a friendly one. 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