--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's good to get your hands dirty a bit…" description: "\"It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how you see things at a given point. And it's very pleasing after writing something like 'Atonement..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/ian-mcewan-494_atonement_it-s-good-to-get-your-hands-dirty-a-bit_551178.jpg" --- # It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how… ![“It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how you see things at a given point. And it's very pleasing after writing something like 'Atonement' or 'On Chesil Beach,' which are historical, to get involved in some plausible re-enactment of the here and now.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/ian-mcewan-494_atonement_it-s-good-to-get-your-hands-dirty-a-bit_551178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/ian-mcewan-494_atonement_it-s-good-to-get-your-hands-dirty-a-bit_551178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/ian-mcewan-494_atonement_it-s-good-to-get-your-hands-dirty-a-bit_551178.jpg) > “It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how you see things at a given point. And it's very pleasing after writing something like 'Atonement' or 'On Chesil Beach,' which are historical, to get involved in some plausible re-enactment of the here and now.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Engaging directly with the present through hands‑on experience deepens understanding and satisfaction after creating historical works. **In simple terms:** Hands‑on practice sharpens perception of current life. Key Takeaway Blend practical activity with reflective writing. Themes creativity reflection craftsmanship Mood thoughtful inspired Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - historical research - creative retreats - improvisational acting Key Concepts experiential learning historical fiction Questions to Reflect On - How does tactile involvement change your view of a story? - When is hands‑on work most beneficial? A Different Perspective May distract from deeper analysis if over‑emphasized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atonement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atonement/) [Beach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beach/) [Here and now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/here-and-now/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I like books that are exciting and that make you think about things, as well. I like things that have a twist - like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/i-like-books-that-are-exciting-and-that-make-you-think-about-things/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [Test all things; hold fast to what is good. -1 Thessalonians 5:21](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/test-all-things-hold-fast-to-what-is-good-1-thessalonians-5-21/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [Scientists don't believe anything.Scientists test things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-conway-morris/scientists-don-t-believe-anything-scientists-test-things/) [Simon Conway Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-conway-morris/) > [“Test all things. But hold fast to the good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/test-all-things-but-hold-fast-to-the-good/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We like to test things... no matter how good an idea sounds, test it first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-w-bloch/we-like-to-test-things-no-matter-how-good-an-idea-sounds-test-it-first/) Henry W. Bloch > [I mean come on. Do you know how easy it is to be famous these days? Do you have any idea? The web has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/i-mean-come-on-do-you-know-how-easy-it-is-to-be-famous-these-days-do/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [After we have thought out everything carefully in advance and have sought and found without prejudice the most plausible plan, we must not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/after-we-have-thought-out-everything-carefully-in-advance-and-have/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [“We could probably do it, figure out a plausible way to really get back her, to completely ruin her life. How hard could it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-s-thompson/we-could-probably-do-it-figure-out-a-plausible-way-to-really-get-back/) [Nancy S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-s-thompson/) > [Like my parents, I have never been a regular church member or churchgoer. It doesn't seem plausible to me that there is the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-spock/like-my-parents-i-have-never-been-a-regular-church-member-or/) [Benjamin Spock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-spock/) > [There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-is-no-plausible-theory-under-which-the-record-of-the-pentagon/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I shall give a propagandist reason for starting the war, no matter whether it is plausible or not. The victor will not be asked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-shall-give-a-propagandist-reason-for-starting-the-war-no-matter/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The plausible outcomes range from the gradual and benign to the more precipitous and damaging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-geithner/the-plausible-outcomes-range-from-the-gradual-and-benign-to-the-more/) [Timothy Geithner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-geithner/) > [As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/as-in-the-instances-of-alchemy-astrology-witchcraft-and-other-such/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [It is often sadly remarked that the bad economists present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/it-is-often-sadly-remarked-that-the-bad-economists-present-their/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian Mcewan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Atonement quotes > [We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/we-cannot-go-back-in-time-and-change-the-past-but-we-can-repent-the/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [I appreciate the written word and spoken word more, but Atonement sort of established so much of me. It was a character that didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/i-appreciate-the-written-word-and-spoken-word-more-but-atonement-sort/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [The Atonement is an event that enables us to be reconciled to God. The word atonement, or 'at-one-ment,' means to restore or to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-c-tingey/the-atonement-is-an-event-that-enables-us-to-be-reconciled-to-god-the/) Earl C. Tingey > [The early Christians made it a part of their religion to look for his return. They looked backward to the cross and the atonement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-early-christians-made-it-a-part-of-their-religion-to-look-for-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And the commencement of atonement is the sense of its necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/and-the-commencement-of-atonement-is-the-sense-of-its-necessity/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/beloved-no-sin-of-a-believer-can-now-be-an-arrow-mortally-to-wound/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [If you feel guilty or quietly ashamed, seek the power of the Atonement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neill-f-marriott/if-you-feel-guilty-or-quietly-ashamed-seek-the-power-of-the-atonement/) [Neill F. Marriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neill-f-marriott/) > [Jesus perfected his life and became our Christ. Priceless blood of a god was shed, and he became our Savior; his perfected life was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/jesus-perfected-his-life-and-became-our-christ-priceless-blood-of-a/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The Atonement of Christ is the most transcendental event that has ever occurred or that will ever occur, since the sunrise of creation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-r-mcconkie/the-atonement-of-christ-is-the-most-transcendental-event-that-has/) [Bruce R. McConkie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-r-mcconkie/) > [Jesus Christ was the only one capable of performing the magnificent Atonement because He was the only perfect man and the Only Begotten Son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-o-samuelson/jesus-christ-was-the-only-one-capable-of-performing-the-magnificent/) [Cecil O. Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-o-samuelson/) > [The cumulative weight of all mortal sins--past, present, and future--pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/the-cumulative-weight-of-all-mortal-sins-past-present-and-future/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [God thank you for everything you've given us. For the time we have together. And for the miracle of Christmas. Thank you for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/god-thank-you-for-everything-you-ve-given-us-for-the-time-we-have/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [Contemplation does not ignore the 'historical Gethsemane', does not ignore the mystery of evil, guilt and its bloody atonement. The happiness of contemplation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/contemplation-does-not-ignore-the-historical-gethsemane-does-not/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [Do you realize how marvelous it is that you can call upon the Atonement? The Lord effected the Atonement for our sakes. And there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/do-you-realize-how-marvelous-it-is-that-you-can-call-upon-the/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) > [I would rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-would-rather-believe-a-limited-atonement-that-is-efficacious-for/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) [Browse all 327 Atonement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atonement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how you see things at a given point. 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