--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the act of writing he experiences…" description: "\"“In the act of writing he experiences, today, an exceptional sensual pleasure -- in the feel of the pen, snug in the crook of his thumb, but even more ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c04/j-m-coetzee-2457_pleasure_in-the-act-of-writing-he-experiences-tod_2255480.png" --- # In the act of writing he experiences, today, an… ![“In the act of writing he experiences, today, an exceptional sensual pleasure -- in the feel of the pen, snug in the crook of his thumb, but even more in the feel of his hand being tugged back lightly from its course across the page by the strict, unvarying shape of the letters, the discipline of…” quote by J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c04/j-m-coetzee-2457_pleasure_in-the-act-of-writing-he-experiences-tod_2255480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c04/j-m-coetzee-2457_pleasure_in-the-act-of-writing-he-experiences-tod_2255480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c04/j-m-coetzee-2457_pleasure_in-the-act-of-writing-he-experiences-tod_2255480.png) > ““In the act of writing he experiences, today, an exceptional sensual pleasure -- in the feel of the pen, snug in the crook of his thumb, but even more in the feel of his hand being tugged back lightly from its course across the page by the strict, unvarying shape of the letters, the discipline of the alphabet.”” [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing offers a tactile, disciplined pleasure that grounds the writer through the physical act of shaping language. **In simple terms:** Writing feels rewarding and disciplined. Key Takeaway Embrace the physicality of writing to deepen focus. Themes creativity discipline language sensory experience Mood contemplative introspective motivational Type creative philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - handwritten drafts - calligraphy practice Key Concepts embodiment alphabetic structure motor memory Questions to Reflect On - What does the feel of the pen reveal about your thoughts? - How can discipline improve your writing process? A Different Perspective The focus on physical sensation may underplay the importance of ideas and content. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feel Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-hand-814882/) [Feel Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-pen-1164819/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-feel-930341/) [Sensual pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensual-pleasure/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I have a real aversion to machines. I write with a pen. Then I read it to someone who writes it onto the computer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-have-a-real-aversion-to-machines-i-write-with-a-pen-then-i-read-it/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I am a man-pen. I feel through the pen, because of the pen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/i-am-a-man-pen-i-feel-through-the-pen-because-of-the-pen/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [In politics continental Europe was infantile - horrifying. What America lacked, for all its political stability, was the capacity to enjoy intellectual pleasures as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/in-politics-continental-europe-was-infantile-horrifying-what-america/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-casanova/real-love-is-the-love-that-sometimes-arises-after-sensual-pleasure-if/) [Giacomo Casanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-casanova/) > [Because I have always felt privileged. 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Stork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-x-stork/) > [“As I lie on my couch by the fireplace, looking out from my hillside home at the snow leading down to the ocean, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-browne/as-i-lie-on-my-couch-by-the-fireplace-looking-out-from-my-hillside/) [Harry Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-browne/) > [The pleasure we feel, reading a poem, is our assurance of its integrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/the-pleasure-we-feel-reading-a-poem-is-our-assurance-of-its-integrity/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [The thing that gives me most pleasure is when I feel I've really engaged with my colleagues, other like-minded individuals, in getting something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-sharp/the-thing-that-gives-me-most-pleasure-is-when-i-feel-i-ve-really/) [Lesley Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-sharp/) > [“Each pleasure we feel is a pleasure less; each day a stroke on a calendar. What we will not accept is that the joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/each-pleasure-we-feel-is-a-pleasure-less-each-day-a-stroke-on-a/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The peace of the land, the last islands of this peace, made me feel small. I welcomed the feeling. It was a pleasure to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hawthorne-deming/the-peace-of-the-land-the-last-islands-of-this-peace-made-me-feel/) [Alison Hawthorne Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-hawthorne-deming/) ## More by J.M. Coetzee > [“I urge you: don't cut short these thought-trains of yours. Follow them through to their end. Your thoughts and your feelings. Follow them through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/i-urge-you-don-t-cut-short-these-thought-trains-of-yours-follow-them/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“I truly believe I am not afraid of death. 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Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“It occurs to me that we crush insects beneath our feet, miracles of creation too, beetles, worms, cockroaches, ants, in their various ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/it-occurs-to-me-that-we-crush-insects-beneath-our-feet-miracles-of/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“He sits with the pen in his hand, holding himself back from a descent into representations that have no place in the world, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/he-sits-with-the-pen-in-his-hand-holding-himself-back-from-a-descent/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“Do you remember Vlek, who was such a good sheepdog that she and Jakob alone could drive a whole flock past you at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/do-you-remember-vlek-who-was-such-a-good-sheepdog-that-she-and-jakob/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“We are accustomed to believe that our world was created by God speaking the Word; but I ask, may it not rather be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/we-are-accustomed-to-believe-that-our-world-was-created-by-god/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“...from the oppression of such freedom who would not welcome the liberation of confinement?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/from-the-oppression-of-such-freedom-who-would-not-welcome-the/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“If he has a last thought, if there is time for a last thought, it will simply be, So this is what a last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/if-he-has-a-last-thought-if-there-is-time-for-a-last-thought-it-will/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [“At what age , he wonders, did Origen castrate himself? 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Coetzee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) ## More Pleasure quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. 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It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-dusenberry/the-work-the-work-the-work-this-is-what-the-business-is-all-about/) [Phil Dusenberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-dusenberry/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Exercise teaches you the pleasure of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/exercise-teaches-you-the-pleasure-of-discipline/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [“Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. 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