--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't make that hard and fast…" description: "\"I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.\" — John Edgar Wideman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b94/john-edgar-wideman-7347_between_i-don-t-make-that-hard-and-fast-distinct_1617931.jpg" --- # I don't make that hard and fast distinction between… ![“I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.” quote by John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b94/john-edgar-wideman-7347_between_i-don-t-make-that-hard-and-fast-distinct_1617931.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b94/john-edgar-wideman-7347_between_i-don-t-make-that-hard-and-fast-distinct_1617931.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b94/john-edgar-wideman-7347_between_i-don-t-make-that-hard-and-fast-distinct_1617931.jpg) > “I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.” [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author refuses to separate political from personal writing, focusing on issues that disturb him. **In simple terms:** Writing about personal concerns, not just politics. Key Takeaway Write about what unsettles you. Themes politics personal expression Mood critical engaged Type literary personal When to use this quote - opinion pieces - creative nonfiction Key Concepts activism authorship subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - What topics do you find most unsettling? - How do you decide what to write about? A Different Perspective Some may argue for clear genre boundaries. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Between](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/between/) [Fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Nonpolitical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonpolitical-575508/) [Nonpolitical Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonpolitical-writing-6167201/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political Nonpolitical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-nonpolitical-5600179/) [Write Bothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-bothers-6167202/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Being president of a major public university is the most political nonpolitical office around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-gee/being-president-of-a-major-public-university-is-the-most-political/) [Gordon Gee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-gee/) > [I really wanted to make a nonpolitical political film. I wanted something that folks in red states and blue states could look at and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-haggis/i-really-wanted-to-make-a-nonpolitical-political-film-i-wanted/) [Paul Haggis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-haggis/) > [To be nonpartisan doesn't mean we're nonpolitical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-claiborne/to-be-nonpartisan-doesn-t-mean-we-re-nonpolitical/) [Shane Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-claiborne/) > [For much of my career I had no authentic political voice. I had been campaigning all over the country not to change the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bradley/for-much-of-my-career-i-had-no-authentic-political-voice-i-had-been/) [Bill Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bradley/) > [There is no such thing as a nonpolitical speech by a politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-nonpolitical-speech-by-a-politician/) [Richard M. 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Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-murdock/) ## More by John Edgar Wideman > [My mother loved my father. From my view, she let him get away with too much. It broke my heart to see him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-mother-loved-my-father-from-my-view-she-let-him-get-away-with-too/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Too much is made for us; too much is given to us - even those of us who are underprivileged. The poverty is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/too-much-is-made-for-us-too-much-is-given-to-us-even-those-of-us-who/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [A great artist transforms our world, removes scales from our eyes, plugs from our ears, gloves from our fingertips, teaches us to perceive reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/a-great-artist-transforms-our-world-removes-scales-from-our-eyes/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's what writing is: it's imagining that you can make a world. That's what basketball is, too: it's imagining the game as a world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-what-writing-is-it-s-imagining-that-you-can-make-a-world-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [I'm very hard-nosed and cold-blooded and I can walk past a drowning man. If I have someplace else to go, well, tough s\*\*t. 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Up early before everybody else, before I get connected, before I get bugged, before I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-been-my-routine-for-years-and-years-up-early-before-everybody/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [My father was intelligent and closed-mouthed. He knew a lot more than what he was ever going to tell you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-father-was-intelligent-and-closed-mouthed-he-knew-a-lot-more-than/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [What I wanted to do in talking about basketball in 'Hoop Roots' was retrieve the game as something to participate in, not to watch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/what-i-wanted-to-do-in-talking-about-basketball-in-hoop-roots-was/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Books are an attempt to control something that's uncontrollable. 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Is it a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/i-really-think-there-s-no-difference-between-an-art-piece-made-by-a/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. So the arguments of the characters and the tension between characters -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/on-the-stage-the-characters-express-themselves-more-through-words/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [Close contact between science and the practice of collective farms and State farms creates inexhaustible opportunities for the development of theoretical knowledge, enabling us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trofim-lysenko/close-contact-between-science-and-the-practice-of-collective-farms/) [Trofim Lysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trofim-lysenko/) > [There's a difference between watching a film and watching a bit of cinema and enjoying a film as a piece of cinema.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-frost/there-s-a-difference-between-watching-a-film-and-watching-a-bit-of/) [Nick Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-frost/) > [I don't differentiate between acting on TV and in films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prachi-desai/i-don-t-differentiate-between-acting-on-tv-and-in-films/) [Prachi Desai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prachi-desai/) > [I was in Vietnam, and I was exposed to Agent Orange. 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