--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The writer sensitive to language finds…" description: "\"“The writer sensitive to language finds his own metaphors, not simply because he has been taught to avoid clichés but because he enjoys finding an exac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/john-gardner-3092_metaphor_the-writer-sensitive-to-language-finds-h_2668655.png" --- # The writer sensitive to language finds his own metaphors… ![“The writer sensitive to language finds his own metaphors, not simply because he has been taught to avoid clichés but because he enjoys finding an exact and vivid metaphor, one never before thought of, so far as he knows.” quote by John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/john-gardner-3092_metaphor_the-writer-sensitive-to-language-finds-h_2668655.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/john-gardner-3092_metaphor_the-writer-sensitive-to-language-finds-h_2668655.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/john-gardner-3092_metaphor_the-writer-sensitive-to-language-finds-h_2668655.png) > ““The writer sensitive to language finds his own metaphors, not simply because he has been taught to avoid clichés but because he enjoys finding an exact and vivid metaphor, one never before thought of, so far as he knows.”” [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers who deeply engage with language create original, vivid metaphors rather than relying on taught clichés. **In simple terms:** Deep language use yields fresh metaphors. Key Takeaway Cultivate attentive, playful language habits. Themes creativity language writing Mood inspired reflective Type literary instructional When to use this quote - novel writing - poetry workshops - creative brainstorming Key Concepts metaphor creation originality Questions to Reflect On - How can you train yourself to notice fresh images? - What habits hinder metaphor originality? 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Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [“No algorithm exists for the metaphor, nor can a metaphor be produced by means of a computer’s precise instructions, no matter what the volume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/no-algorithm-exists-for-the-metaphor-nor-can-a-metaphor-be-produced/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More by John Gardner > [“All to often, on the long road up, young leaders become servants of what is rather than shapers of what might be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/all-to-often-on-the-long-road-up-young-leaders-become-servants-of/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. 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James may go too far, but his point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/in-any-long-fiction-henry-james-remarked-use-of-the-first-person/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination than only writing about what you know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/nothing-can-be-more-limiting-to-the-imagination-than-only-writing/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [A nation that values bad philosophy above good plumbing will have neither good philosophy nor good plumbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/a-nation-that-values-bad-philosophy-above-good-plumbing-will-have/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. No one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-citizen-can-bring-our-political-and-governmental-institutions/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Talking, talking. Spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams, between myself and all I see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/talking-talking-spinning-a-web-of-words-pale-walls-of-dreams-between/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“In writing short stories—as in writing novels—take one thing at a time. 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