--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Young authors give their brains much…" description: "\"Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.\" — Joseph Joubert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png" --- # Young authors give their brains much exercise and little… ![“Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.” quote by Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png) > “Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.” [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Young writers overwork their intellects, neglecting nourishment for the soul. **In simple terms:** Intellectual effort without emotional sustenance. Key Takeaway Balance mental work with emotional care. Themes balance creativity well‑being Mood reflective calm Type literary self‑care When to use this quote - writing retreats - mindfulness practices - creative workshops Key Concepts literature psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you nourish your creative spirit? - What habits support intellectual health? A Different Perspective Excessive mental strain can cause burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authorship/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ## Related quotes > [It's our hearts and brains that we should exercise more often. You can put on all the makeup you want, but it won't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevyn-aucoin/it-s-our-hearts-and-brains-that-we-should-exercise-more-often-you-can/) [Kevyn Aucoin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevyn-aucoin/) > [It's a simple exercise; a little logic, a little taste, and the will to cooperate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-loewy/it-s-a-simple-exercise-a-little-logic-a-little-taste-and-the-will-to/) [Raymond Loewy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-loewy/) > [It does look like a very good exercise. But what is the little white ball for?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulysses-s-grant/it-does-look-like-a-very-good-exercise-but-what-is-the-little-white/) [Ulysses S. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulysses-s-grant/) > [A little food for thought, you feelin malnutrition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-budden/a-little-food-for-thought-you-feelin-malnutrition/) [Joe Budden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-budden/) > [Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense quiet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/hospitality-consists-in-a-little-fire-a-little-food-and-an-immense/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [When my boys were little and food wasn't easily delivered via an app, the restaurant at the end of the road was my saviour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/when-my-boys-were-little-and-food-wasn-t-easily-delivered-via-an-app/) [Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/) > [There's a lot of young authors out there, and people do seem to forget: in order to write well, you do need to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-k-morgan/there-s-a-lot-of-young-authors-out-there-and-people-do-seem-to-forget/) [Richard K. Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-k-morgan/) > [After all, it is a common weakness of young authors to put too much into their papers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/after-all-it-is-a-common-weakness-of-young-authors-to-put-too-much/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [My advice to would-be young authors is to read a lot, write a lot, and not worry about creating a finished product. Keeping a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-henkes/my-advice-to-would-be-young-authors-is-to-read-a-lot-write-a-lot-and/) [Kevin Henkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-henkes/) > [I was 17 when I wrote a collection of short stories and wanted it published but it didn't happen. A lot of publishing houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanika-dhillon/i-was-17-when-i-wrote-a-collection-of-short-stories-and-wanted-it/) [Kanika Dhillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanika-dhillon/) > [I feel a kind of reverence for the first books of young authors. There is so much aspiration in them, so much audacious hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/i-feel-a-kind-of-reverence-for-the-first-books-of-young-authors-there/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/young-artists-must-pave-their-way-to-art-by-drawing-pictures-for/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Strength is not energy; some authors have more muscles than talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/strength-is-not-energy-some-authors-have-more-muscles-than-talent/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-starts-upon-a-sudden-takes-pen-ink-and-paper-and-without-ever/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/to-write-well-is-to-think-well-to-feel-well-and-to-render-well-it-is/) [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/) ## More by Joseph Joubert > [Living requires but little life; doing requires much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/living-requires-but-little-life-doing-requires-much/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [A false mind is false in everything, just as a cross eye always looks askant. But one may err once, nay, a hundred times,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/a-false-mind-is-false-in-everything-just-as-a-cross-eye-always-looks/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [What a man knows only through feeling can be explained only through enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/what-a-man-knows-only-through-feeling-can-be-explained-only-through/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Imagination is the eye of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/imagination-is-the-eye-of-the-soul/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [One man finds in religion his literature and his science, another finds in it his joy and his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/one-man-finds-in-religion-his-literature-and-his-science-another/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Which is more misshapen,--religion without virtue, or virtue without religion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/which-is-more-misshapen-religion-without-virtue-or-virtue-without/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many people become abstract as a way of appearing profound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-people-become-abstract-as-a-way-of-appearing-profound/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many books there are whose reputation is made that would not obtain it were it now to make?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-books-there-are-whose-reputation-is-made-that-would-not/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [God has commanded Time to console the unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/god-has-commanded-time-to-console-the-unhappy/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We shall always keep a spare corner in our heads to give passing hospitality to our friends' opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-shall-always-keep-a-spare-corner-in-our-heads-to-give-passing/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Agriculture engenders good sense, and good sense of an excellent kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/agriculture-engenders-good-sense-and-good-sense-of-an-excellent-kind/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We may convince others by our arguements, but we can only persuade them by their own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-may-convince-others-by-our-arguements-but-we-can-only-persuade/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [To teach is to learn twice. About all some parents accomplish in life is to send a child to Harvard. The purpose of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/to-teach-is-to-learn-twice-about-all-some-parents-accomplish-in-life/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Grace is in garments, in movements, in manners; beauty in the nude, and in forms. This is true of bodies; but when we speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/grace-is-in-garments-in-movements-in-manners-beauty-in-the-nude-and/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) [Explore all 306 Joseph Joubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## More Authorship quotes > [To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/to-write-well-is-to-think-well-to-feel-well-and-to-render-well-it-is/) [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/) > [A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-starts-upon-a-sudden-takes-pen-ink-and-paper-and-without-ever/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The writer, like a priest, must be exempted from secular labor. His work needs a frolic health; he must be at the top of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-writer-like-a-priest-must-be-exempted-from-secular-labor-his-work/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“If there's a will, there's a way! I feel larger than LIFE--and look up to the stars who shine down on me and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-scrima-black/if-there-s-a-will-there-s-a-way-i-feel-larger-than-life-and-look-up/) Donna Scrima-Black > [“Every article and review and book that I have ever published has constituted an appeal to the person or persons to whom I should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/every-article-and-review-and-book-that-i-have-ever-published-has/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ Ye who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities. \[Lat., Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam Viribus.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/ye-who-write-choose-a-subject-suited-to-your-abilities-lat-sumite/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Authorship, according to the spirit in which it is pursued, is an infancy, a pastime, a labor, a handicraft, an art, a science, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/authorship-according-to-the-spirit-in-which-it-is-pursued-is-an/) [August Wilhelm Von Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/) > [Authorship has never been with me a matter of choice. I have not done it for amusement, or for money, or for fame, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/authorship-has-never-been-with-me-a-matter-of-choice-i-have-not-done/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [So there's a lot of people tied into believing that the traditional response to the authorship question. In terms of actors, some people get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rylance/so-there-s-a-lot-of-people-tied-into-believing-that-the-traditional/) [Mark Rylance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rylance/) > [Our favorites are few; since only what rises from the heart reaches it, being caught and carried on the tongues of men wheresoever love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/our-favorites-are-few-since-only-what-rises-from-the-heart-reaches-it/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [Subtract from many modern poets all that may be found in Shakespeare, and trash will remain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/subtract-from-many-modern-poets-all-that-may-be-found-in-shakespeare/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [ All these teachers and \[screenwriting\] books mean you see movies that have been worked over by more committees wielding more rules, that all originality… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-schrader/all-these-teachers-and-screenwriting-books-mean-you-see-movies-that/) [Paul Schrader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-schrader/) > [That author, however, who has thought more than he has read, read more than he has written, and written more than he has published,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/that-author-however-who-has-thought-more-than-he-has-read-read-more/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To expect an author to talk as he writes is ridiculous; or even if he did you would find fault with him as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/to-expect-an-author-to-talk-as-he-writes-is-ridiculous-or-even-if-he/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“Try to be someone upon whom nothing is lost!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/try-to-be-someone-upon-whom-nothing-is-lost/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) [Browse all 190 Authorship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authorship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Joubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exercise-and-little-food/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authorship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exercise-and-little-food/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/joseph-joubert-1017_authorship_young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exe_2789306.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.” — Joseph Joubert", "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": "Joseph Joubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Young authors give their brains much...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exercise-and-little-food/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/young-authors-give-their-brains-much-exercise-and-little-food/#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 } } ] } ```