--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I write a book, I hope to be beyond…" description: "\"When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the time I'm finished.\" — Jamaica Kincaid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/jamaica-kincaid-1540_book_when-i-write-a-book-i-hope-to-be-beyond_678321.png" --- # When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the… ![“When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the time I'm finished.” quote by Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/jamaica-kincaid-1540_book_when-i-write-a-book-i-hope-to-be-beyond_678321.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/jamaica-kincaid-1540_book_when-i-write-a-book-i-hope-to-be-beyond_678321.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/jamaica-kincaid-1540_book_when-i-write-a-book-i-hope-to-be-beyond_678321.png) > “When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the time I'm finished.” [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing aims to achieve lasting impact, transcending ordinary mortality through enduring words. **In simple terms:** Writing seeks lasting impact. Key Takeaway Write with purpose, aim for timelessness. Themes literature legacy mortality Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - publishing - creative process - cultural preservation Key Concepts eternal relevance authorial ambition Questions to Reflect On - What makes a book timeless? - How does personal legacy shape writing? A Different Perspective Not all works achieve immortality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Mortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortal/) [Mortals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortals/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“What are you waiting for, you little mortal! You have no time! Get up and get out and do something to protect your miraculous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/what-are-you-waiting-for-you-little-mortal-you-have-no-time-get-up/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [You mortal! You time-poor! Don't waste your scarce time to be patient!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-mortal-you-time-poor-don-t-waste-your-scarce-time-to-be-patient/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [You write a book and you hope somebody will go out and pay $24.95 for what you've just said. I think books were my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/you-write-a-book-and-you-hope-somebody-will-go-out-and-pay-24-95-for/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Oh, what a valiant faculty is hope, that in a mortal subject, and in a moment, makes nothing of usurping infinity, immensity, eternity, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/oh-what-a-valiant-faculty-is-hope-that-in-a-mortal-subject-and-in-a/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Time was like the rain, glittering as it fell, changing the world, but something that could also be taken for granted. Until you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/time-was-like-the-rain-glittering-as-it-fell-changing-the-world-but/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Deep space rendered mortal time-lines inconsequential. Few things were as old, or pervasive, as the vast, encroaching darkness of the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/deep-space-rendered-mortal-time-lines-inconsequential-few-things-were/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [“To them, as to Magnus, time was like rain, glittering as it fell, changing the world, but something that could also be taken for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/to-them-as-to-magnus-time-was-like-rain-glittering-as-it-fell-2/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/that-brain-of-mine-is-something-more-than-merely-mortal-as-time-will/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [“Time is our mortal enemy because it makes us mortal. Yet without time we wouldn't exist. 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Brucker > [“This is a book about me, at what I hope is the beginning of the second half of my life and not the brief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/this-is-a-book-about-me-at-what-i-hope-is-the-beginning-of-the-second/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [“With this book I hope what I always hope—that readers will nod their heads (not constantly, you know, but at the odd juncture) and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jincy-willett/with-this-book-i-hope-what-i-always-hope-that-readers-will-nod-their/) [Jincy Willett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jincy-willett/) > [“Hey! Thanks for taking the time to read Trapped in a Video Game: Book Three. I hope you had as much fun reading it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-brady/hey-thanks-for-taking-the-time-to-read-trapped-in-a-video-game-book/) [Dustin Brady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-brady/) > [To gain the book, one must give up all hope for the book. It is the only way the book can get written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/to-gain-the-book-one-must-give-up-all-hope-for-the-book-it-is-the/) [Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/) ## More by Jamaica Kincaid > [I'm always telling my students go to law school or become a doctor, do something, and then write. First of all you should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-m-always-telling-my-students-go-to-law-school-or-become-a-doctor-do/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [The slave trade was globalism. Why people insist that globalism, after its hideous history, is a good thing, I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/the-slave-trade-was-globalism-why-people-insist-that-globalism-after/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I have no credentials. I have no money. I literally come from a poor place. I was a servant. I dropped out of college.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-have-no-credentials-i-have-no-money-i-literally-come-from-a-poor/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [In my writing I'm trying to explore the violations people commit upon each other. And the important thing isn't whether I'm angry. The more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/in-my-writing-i-m-trying-to-explore-the-violations-people-commit-upon/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > ["Race." I really can't understand it as anything other than something people say. The people who have said that you and I are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/race-i-really-can-t-understand-it-as-anything-other-than-something/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Race as a subject only comes about because of what I look like. If I say something truthfully, people say "Oh, she's so angry."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/race-as-a-subject-only-comes-about-because-of-what-i-look-like-if-i/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [in the place I am from ... a grave is topped off with a huge mound of loose earth - carelessly, as if piled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/in-the-place-i-am-from-a-grave-is-topped-off-with-a-huge-mound-of/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I like melancholy. I like to pretend that I'm alone in the world and I'm just sort of abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-like-melancholy-i-like-to-pretend-that-i-m-alone-in-the-world-and-i/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I come from the small island of Antigua and I always wanted to write; I just didn't know that it was possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-come-from-the-small-island-of-antigua-and-i-always-wanted-to-write/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“Have you ever wondered to yourself why it is that all people like me seem to have learned from you is how to imprison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/have-you-ever-wondered-to-yourself-why-it-is-that-all-people-like-me/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Love and hatred don't take turns; they exist side by side at the same time. And one's duty, one's obligation every day, is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/love-and-hatred-don-t-take-turns-they-exist-side-by-side-at-the-same/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“Do you see the queer thing about people like me? Sometimes we hold your retribution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/do-you-see-the-queer-thing-about-people-like-me-sometimes-we-hold/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I didn't really understand racism because I grew up in an all-black society, so I didn't see how it was possible not to like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-didn-t-really-understand-racism-because-i-grew-up-in-an-all-black/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [A great piece of literature encompasses all that is and all that will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/a-great-piece-of-literature-encompasses-all-that-is-and-all-that-will/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [The people who invented race, who grouped us together as "black," were inventing and categorizing their ability to do something vicious and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/the-people-who-invented-race-who-grouped-us-together-as-black-were/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) [Explore all 228 Jamaica Kincaid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. 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