--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...is the writer a prophet or priest…" description: "\"“...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the truth or serve the truth?...”\" — John Geddes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg" --- # ...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the… ![“...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the truth or serve the truth?...” quote by John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg) > ““...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the truth or serve the truth?...”” [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Debating whether a writer’s role is to predict truth or to serve it faithfully. **In simple terms:** Writers balance prophecy and duty. Key Takeaway Write responsibly, inspire truth. Themes writing truth role responsibility Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - journalism - fiction - public discourse Key Concepts literature ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you define truth in writing? - Should writers prioritize vision or facts? A Different Perspective Truth may be subjective, not absolute. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) [Prophet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophet/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-advice/) ## Related quotes > [“...what makes a writer a prophet is his ability to speak truth...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/what-makes-a-writer-a-prophet-is-his-ability-to-speak-truth/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [I have always been intensely uncomfortable with the idea of a science fiction writer as prophet. Not that there haven't been science fiction writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-have-always-been-intensely-uncomfortable-with-the-idea-of-a-science/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In the economy of Heaven, God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough, or a prophet if a priest can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/in-the-economy-of-heaven-god-does-not-send-thunder-if-a-still-small/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [Jesus our Lord is Prophet, Priest, and King. The concept is not new, yet many preachers never preach it, and many congregations never hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/jesus-our-lord-is-prophet-priest-and-king-the-concept-is-not-new-yet/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Jesus wept: This Prophet, Priest, King Has a: Holy, Priesthood, Chosen! This Refugee, Homeless, Healer Has a Celebrity, TV, Mega - church? God business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holdsworth/jesus-wept-this-prophet-priest-king-has-a-holy-priesthood-chosen-this/) [David Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-holdsworth/) > [“A man who serves language, however imperfectly, should always serve truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-man-who-serves-language-however-imperfectly-should-always-serve/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Propaganda must not serve the truth, especially as it might bring out something favorable for the opponent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/propaganda-must-not-serve-the-truth-especially-as-it-might-bring-out/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“We must truly listen to each other, respecting our essential brotherhood and the courage of those who try to speak, however they may differ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-england/we-must-truly-listen-to-each-other-respecting-our-essential/) Eugene England > [You shouldn't fear your audience, you should serve your audience, serve them the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-stelter/you-shouldn-t-fear-your-audience-you-should-serve-your-audience-serve/) [Brian Stelter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-stelter/) > [Typically, people in the intelligence community are just going to kind of hunker down and do their job, do their mission. And I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/typically-people-in-the-intelligence-community-are-just-going-to-kind/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) > [Few serve truth in truth because only few have the pure will to be just, and of those again very few have the strength…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/few-serve-truth-in-truth-because-only-few-have-the-pure-will-to-be/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Beware of the anger of the mouth. Master your words. Let them serve truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/beware-of-the-anger-of-the-mouth-master-your-words-let-them-serve/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [A lie does not become truth just because ten people are telling it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/a-lie-does-not-become-truth-just-because-ten-people-are-telling-it/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [OK, so truth hurts - but what else does truth do?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teena-marie/ok-so-truth-hurts-but-what-else-does-truth-do/) [Teena Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teena-marie/) > [We live in an age rather skeptical of truth, of its existence." There is a "tendency to believe that nothing is definitive, and think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/we-live-in-an-age-rather-skeptical-of-truth-of-its-existence-there-is/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) ## More by John Geddes > [“...those others - they're looking for trends - subjects to catch a spark - but I have you - a coal from God's altar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/those-others-they-re-looking-for-trends-subjects-to-catch-a-spark-but/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...careful the morning lest it wake from slumber the city half-encumbered by the morning mist ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/careful-the-morning-lest-it-wake-from-slumber-the-city-half/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...I've decided ... love is an eternity of slow motion replays ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/i-ve-decided-love-is-an-eternity-of-slow-motion-replays/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“... my early writing was a silent fury - at what or whom, I had no idea - but I shut it in until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/my-early-writing-was-a-silent-fury-at-what-or-whom-i-had-no-idea-but/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...little children adore me - I'm a Troll Tamer and they know it!...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/little-children-adore-me-i-m-a-troll-tamer-and-they-know-it/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...all this time I've been worshiping you - when other men wanted to kiss you, I've been offering the praise of my lips...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/all-this-time-i-ve-been-worshiping-you-when-other-men-wanted-to-kiss/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“... the scarlet thread,the red clay from which we were made, runs in tiny streams through all our veins, reminding us of where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-scarlet-thread-the-red-clay-from-which-we-were-made-runs-in-tiny/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...you are not what you seem - you're a Sylph - you leave and the air retains your image - you haunt me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/you-are-not-what-you-seem-you-re-a-sylph-you-leave-and-the-air/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...God daubs stars into galaxies with fiery paint - the same lacquer he uses upon your lips...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/god-daubs-stars-into-galaxies-with-fiery-paint-the-same-lacquer-he/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...language always occurs in a context - you can speak Elizabethan words, but to speak the language you have to put on the mindset...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/language-always-occurs-in-a-context-you-can-speak-elizabethan-words/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...the feelings that pass between us are deeper than fleshly touches...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-feelings-that-pass-between-us-are-deeper-than-fleshly-touches/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...open the access to your heart and write down what your voice is whispering...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/open-the-access-to-your-heart-and-write-down-what-your-voice-is/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [...true love is an irrevocable act - you can only give your heart away once - after that, you give as much as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/true-love-is-an-irrevocable-act-you-can-only-give-your-heart-away/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“...the strands that connect us are frail, so don't hang great weights on slender wires...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-strands-that-connect-us-are-frail-so-don-t-hang-great-weights-on/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [...not even the wind can bring a tear to my eye the way you do...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/not-even-the-wind-can-bring-a-tear-to-my-eye-the-way-you-do/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) [Explore all 301 John Geddes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) ## More Priest quotes > [When I was in high school, I was a bad singer. I mean, all my early acting was musical theater, and my first ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-claflin/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-was-a-bad-singer-i-mean-all-my-early/) [Sam Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-claflin/) > [So long as the priest, that professional negator, slanderer and poisoner of life, is regarded as a superior type of human being, there cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/so-long-as-the-priest-that-professional-negator-slanderer-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-of-lisieux/i-feel-in-me-the-vocation-of-the-priest-i-have-the-vocation-of-the/) [Therese of Lisieux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-of-lisieux/) > [There's this great fear, and I find, lack of knowledge of Catholicism, just like I'm ignorant of other things. I think we should all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-hicks/there-s-this-great-fear-and-i-find-lack-of-knowledge-of-catholicism/) [Catherine Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-hicks/) > [“In all your years as a priest, I’m sure you’ve been asked this many times: ‘Why does he do this if he loves us?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-finney/in-all-your-years-as-a-priest-i-m-sure-you-ve-been-asked-this-many/) [Richard Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-finney/) > [“I left that church with rich and royal hatred of the priest as a person, and a loathing for the church as an institution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/i-left-that-church-with-rich-and-royal-hatred-of-the-priest-as-a/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [ \[To a priest who smoked:\] What a shame for a man to dress like a saint and smell like a devil! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nation/to-a-priest-who-smoked-what-a-shame-for-a-man-to-dress-like-a-saint/) [Carrie Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nation/) > [I did the good priest and the bad and felt that I am getting stereotyped in priest roles. I am not picking them anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-mathew/i-did-the-good-priest-and-the-bad-and-felt-that-i-am-getting/) [Joy Mathew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-mathew/) > [People ask me what I think about that woman priest thing. What, a woman priest? Women priests. Great, great. Now there's priests of both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/people-ask-me-what-i-think-about-that-woman-priest-thing-what-a-woman/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [“Go to a goddamn priest if you wanna be lied to. I've seen too many of your kind slip back inside to fool myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/go-to-a-goddamn-priest-if-you-wanna-be-lied-to-i-ve-seen-too-many-of/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [The minister and the priest teach that the organization is greater. No great philosophy has ever come from an organization, but from an individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-twitchell/the-minister-and-the-priest-teach-that-the-organization-is-greater-no/) [Paul Twitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-twitchell/) > [To image the being of God towards the world, to be the priest of creation, is to behave towards the world in all its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-gunton/to-image-the-being-of-god-towards-the-world-to-be-the-priest-of/) Colin Gunton > [A priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense esprit de corps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-priest-is-a-man-vowed-trained-and-consecrated-a-man-belonging-to-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [“The priest must preach the pure words of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-priest-must-preach-the-pure-words-of-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Who am I? I am a teller of stories. I have lived as a priest, a prince, and a peasant. I have known the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-holman/who-am-i-i-am-a-teller-of-stories-i-have-lived-as-a-priest-a-prince/) [Sarah Holman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-holman/) [Browse all 353 Priest quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the truth or serve the truth?...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Geddes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-he-show-the-truth-or-serve-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Priest" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-he-show-the-truth-or-serve-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/john-geddes-1052_priest_is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-h_2479874.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...is the writer a prophet or priest - does he show the truth or serve the truth?...” — John Geddes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Geddes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“...is the writer a prophet or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-he-show-the-truth-or-serve-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/is-the-writer-a-prophet-or-priest-does-he-show-the-truth-or-serve-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```