--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All writing is an antisocial act, since…" description: "\"All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be himself he must lock himself up, to communicate..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg" --- # All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a… ![“All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be himself he must lock himself up, to communicate he must cut himself off from all communication; and in this there is something always a little mad.” quote by Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg) > “All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be himself he must lock himself up, to communicate he must cut himself off from all communication; and in this there is something always a little mad.” [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing requires isolation; the writer must be alone to think freely, yet must also separate from ordinary conversation, creating a tension that can feel crazy. **In simple terms:** Writing needs solitude and separation from normal talk. Key Takeaway Embrace solitude to create authentic work. Themes creativity solitude madness communication authenticity Mood reflective introspective melancholic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - journalism - poetry - screenwriting - personal essays Key Concepts psychology of creativity social isolation artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How does solitude affect your creative process? - Can you balance social interaction with artistic work? A Different Perspective Isolation can hinder collaboration and mental health. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antisocial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antisocial/) [Antisocial Act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antisocial-act-2376080/) [Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communicate/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Locks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locks/) [Mad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mad/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-man-1081925/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Antisocial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-antisocial-360994/) ## Related quotes > [Writing is an antisocial act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-grimes/writing-is-an-antisocial-act/) [Martha Grimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-grimes/) > [To bring into the world an unwanted human being is as antisocial an act as murder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/to-bring-into-the-world-an-unwanted-human-being-is-as-antisocial-an/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The great thing about writing is that...you can do all these antisocial things and you get paid for them and nobody ever arrests you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-great-thing-about-writing-is-that-you-can-do-all-these-antisocial/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I don't want to blame anybody, but I just want to tell you that the process of writing is antisocial, so on the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-don-t-want-to-blame-anybody-but-i-just-want-to-tell-you-that-the/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [“...I have this one nasty habit. Makes me hard to live with. I write... ...writing is antisocial. It's as solitary as masturbation. Disturb a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-this-one-nasty-habit-makes-me-hard-to-live-with-i-write/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A man who wants the truth becomes a scientist; a man who wants to give free play to his subjectivity may become a writer;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-who-wants-the-truth-becomes-a-scientist-a-man-who-wants-to-give/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [I used to think that once a writer became a man of letters, if only for a half hour, he was done for. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-used-to-think-that-once-a-writer-became-a-man-of-letters-if-only/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [One must never judge the writer by the man; but one may fairly judge the man by the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/one-must-never-judge-the-writer-by-the-man-but-one-may-fairly-judge/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/talent-alone-cannot-make-a-writer-there-must-be-a-man-behind-the-book/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A writer is a man like any other: he dreams. And my dream was to be able to say of this book, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/a-writer-is-a-man-like-any-other-he-dreams-and-my-dream-was-to-be/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Nothing can injure a man's writing if he's a first-rate writer. If a man is not a first-rate writer, there's not anything can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/nothing-can-injure-a-man-s-writing-if-he-s-a-first-rate-writer-if-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Man knows, and in the course of years he comes to know it increasingly well, feeling it ever more acutely, that memory is weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/man-knows-and-in-the-course-of-years-he-comes-to-know-it-increasingly/) [Ryszard Kapuściński](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [What better portrait of a writer than to show a man who has been bewitched by books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-better-portrait-of-a-writer-than-to-show-a-man-who-has-been/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [An Ambassadore is a man of virtue sent to lie abroad for his country, a news writer is a man of no virtue who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wotton/an-ambassadore-is-a-man-of-virtue-sent-to-lie-abroad-for-his-country/) [Henry Wotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wotton/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More by Kenneth Tynan > [Art and ideology often interact on each other; but the plain fact is that both spring from a common source. Both draw on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/art-and-ideology-often-interact-on-each-other-but-the-plain-fact-is/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [I doubt if I could love anyone who did not wish to see Look Back in Anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/i-doubt-if-i-could-love-anyone-who-did-not-wish-to-see-look-back-in/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [No theater could sanely flourish until there was an umbilical connection between what was happening on the stage and what was happening in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/no-theater-could-sanely-flourish-until-there-was-an-umbilical/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/what-when-drunk-one-sees-in-other-women-one-sees-in-garbo-sober/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Pearl is a disease of oysters. 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Shaw had no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/in-most-writers-style-is-a-welcome-an-invitation-a-letting-down-of/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [When you've seen all of Ionesco's plays, I felt at the end, you've seen one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/when-you-ve-seen-all-of-ionesco-s-plays-i-felt-at-the-end-you-ve-seen/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [I hope I never need to believe in God. It would be an awful confession of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/i-hope-i-never-need-to-believe-in-god-it-would-be-an-awful-confession/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Pornography is writing that seeks primarily, even exclusively, to bring about sexual stimulation. This can be done crudely or delicately. In the former case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/pornography-is-writing-that-seeks-primarily-even-exclusively-to-bring/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [There, standing at the piano, was the original good time who had been had by all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/there-standing-at-the-piano-was-the-original-good-time-who-had-been/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Among the classic tastes: bread sauce, Nuits St Georges Les Perdrix 1962, Worcestershire sauce, Toblerone and Bovril.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/among-the-classic-tastes-bread-sauce-nuits-st-georges-les-perdrix/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) [Explore all 51 Kenneth Tynan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) ## More Antisocial quotes > [“It wasn’t that she necessarily wanted to “socialize” at the bonfire, but she wanted to broadcast to the general population that her antisocial behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/it-wasn-t-that-she-necessarily-wanted-to-socialize-at-the-bonfire-but/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [“It is easy to criticize the antisocial, but hard to get close to know what keeps them at bay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-easy-to-criticize-the-antisocial-but-hard-to-get-close-to-know/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Any analysis of 'sin' or 'evil' or 'demonic influence' or 'negative thinking' or 'systemic evil' or 'antisocial behavior' that fails to see the lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-schuller/any-analysis-of-sin-or-evil-or-demonic-influence-or-negative-thinking/) [Robert H. Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-schuller/) > [These data suggest very strongly that participating in the playing of violent video games by children and youth increase aggressive thought and behavior; increase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-yee/these-data-suggest-very-strongly-that-participating-in-the-playing-of/) [Leland Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-yee/) > [When someone is anonymous, it opens the door to all kinds of antisocial behavior, as seen by the Ku Klux Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-zimbardo/when-someone-is-anonymous-it-opens-the-door-to-all-kinds-of/) [Philip Zimbardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-zimbardo/) > [I've invented Twofacebook, the antisocial network. You start being friends w/entire world & defriend people one by one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-borowitz/i-ve-invented-twofacebook-the-antisocial-network-you-start-being/) [Andy Borowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-borowitz/) > [Nobody adopts antisocial behaviour unless they fear that they will fail if they remain on the social side of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/nobody-adopts-antisocial-behaviour-unless-they-fear-that-they-will/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [The vital energies regulate themselves naturally without compulsive duty or compulsive morality both of which are sure signs of existing antisocial impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-vital-energies-regulate-themselves-naturally-without-compulsive/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“Quit being a diva. Get over yourself. And for God’s sake, quit being such an antisocial loner before you end up lonely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-layne/quit-being-a-diva-get-over-yourself-and-for-god-s-sake-quit-being/) [Lauren Layne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-layne/) > [I drink much less than most people think, and I think much more than most people would believe. I am quite sincere about some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/i-drink-much-less-than-most-people-think-and-i-think-much-more-than/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [We've enshrined the purity, sanctity, value, and importance of bringing children into the world, yet we don't discuss death. There used to be an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/we-ve-enshrined-the-purity-sanctity-value-and-importance-of-bringing/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-rauch/leave-an-extrovert-alone-for-two-minutes-and-he-will-reach-for-his/) [Jonathan Rauch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-rauch/) > [I love that there are beaches you can walk your dog on in San Francisco. Fort Funston is big and always packed with hundreds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wiedlin/i-love-that-there-are-beaches-you-can-walk-your-dog-on-in-san/) [Jane Wiedlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wiedlin/) > [I was lousy in school. Real screwed-up. A moron. I was antisocial and didn't bother with the other kids. A really bad student. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/i-was-lousy-in-school-real-screwed-up-a-moron-i-was-antisocial-and/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) > [“Sociopaths, or what psychiatrists call antisocial personalities, have lifelong patterns of deceitfulness for personal gain. They lack remorse and empathy and are wizards at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-small/sociopaths-or-what-psychiatrists-call-antisocial-personalities-have/) [Gary Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-small/) [Browse all 133 Antisocial quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antisocial/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be himself he must lock himself up, to communicate he must cut himself off from all communication; and in this there is something always a little mad.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kenneth Tynan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-the-writer-is-a-man-who-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Antisocial" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-the-writer-is-a-man-who-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/kenneth-tynan-13245_antisocial_all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-t_2367022.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All writing is an antisocial act, since the writer is a man who can speak freely only when alone; to be…” — Kenneth Tynan", "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": "Kenneth Tynan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All writing is an antisocial act,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-the-writer-is-a-man-who-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/all-writing-is-an-antisocial-act-since-the-writer-is-a-man-who-can/#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 } } ] } ```