--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and…" description: "\"Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn shame because a writer with an audience has a moral responsibility to make readers think about ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ec/kevin-keck-25114_audience_most-writers-are-lazy-intellectuals-and_2079629.jpg" --- # Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn… ![“Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn shame because a writer with an audience has a moral responsibility to make readers think about the world in a different way than what they're used to. Why else would you pick up a book if not to inhabit another realm of existence for a while?” quote by Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ec/kevin-keck-25114_audience_most-writers-are-lazy-intellectuals-and_2079629.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ec/kevin-keck-25114_audience_most-writers-are-lazy-intellectuals-and_2079629.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ec/kevin-keck-25114_audience_most-writers-are-lazy-intellectuals-and_2079629.jpg) > “Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn shame because a writer with an audience has a moral responsibility to make readers think about the world in a different way than what they're used to. Why else would you pick up a book if not to inhabit another realm of existence for a while?” [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers must challenge readers, using their platform to provoke new perspectives. **In simple terms:** Writers should make us think differently. Key Takeaway Read to expand your worldview. Themes responsibility intellect creativity Mood thoughtful critical Type literary ethical When to use this quote - book clubs - educational curricula - personal development - media analysis Key Concepts ethical duty cognitive expansion literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do readers have in this exchange? - How can writers balance entertainment and provocation? A Different Perspective Not all writers have the skill to fulfill this duty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-responsibility/) [Realms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realms/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I realized early in my career that precisely what one reader doesn't like is what another reader loves. Collectively, any writer's audience presents a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-realized-early-in-my-career-that-precisely-what-one-reader-doesn-t/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [I feel a big obligation to the audience, almost in a moral sense, to say something useful. If I'm going to spend a year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ramis/i-feel-a-big-obligation-to-the-audience-almost-in-a-moral-sense-to/) [Harold Ramis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ramis/) > [Cellphones have, if nothing else, turned TV crime writers into lazy sloths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/cellphones-have-if-nothing-else-turned-tv-crime-writers-into-lazy/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [I read a lot; I tried to understand the mechanisms that made the books I liked successful, and I went that route. So, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/i-read-a-lot-i-tried-to-understand-the-mechanisms-that-made-the-books/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [Readers themselves, I think, contribute to a book. They add their own imaginations, and it is as though the writer only gave them something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/readers-themselves-i-think-contribute-to-a-book-they-add-their-own/) [Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/) > [I hope readers will think that 'The Thing About Life' is beautifully patterned, a tapestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-hope-readers-will-think-that-the-thing-about-life-is-beautifully/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Don't tell readers what to think. Let the action speak for itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/don-t-tell-readers-what-to-think-let-the-action-speak-for-itself/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [I'm not a writer who's preaching some particular philosophy or something but the big questions do concern me and I like to make my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/i-m-not-a-writer-who-s-preaching-some-particular-philosophy-or/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [You can't visit readers where you think they are. You have to invite them home to where you are and try to lure them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesbo/you-can-t-visit-readers-where-you-think-they-are-you-have-to-invite/) [Jo Nesbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesbo/) > [I think our job is to trust our readers. I think our job is to see and to let ourselves be seen. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/i-think-our-job-is-to-trust-our-readers-i-think-our-job-is-to-see-and/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [We are Republicans. How I see our mission is we always want to be transparent with readers about what we think, about our opinions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-marshall/we-are-republicans-how-i-see-our-mission-is-we-always-want-to-be/) [Josh Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-marshall/) > [I think kids are incredibly savvy readers. I think we should give them all the credit in the world. They want to know the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gratz/i-think-kids-are-incredibly-savvy-readers-i-think-we-should-give-them/) [Alan Gratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-gratz/) > [“I credit the practice of law with teaching me how to make readers think one thing is happening when it’s really something else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-williams-crockett/i-credit-the-practice-of-law-with-teaching-me-how-to-make-readers/) Elaine Williams Crockett > [A lot of writers do think of their characters as living beings. I know that's the way people think. That's why I try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-cooper/a-lot-of-writers-do-think-of-their-characters-as-living-beings-i-know/) [Dennis Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-cooper/) > [When you think of comic book readers, you never think of the brown girl, and I was that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iman-vellani/when-you-think-of-comic-book-readers-you-never-think-of-the-brown/) [Iman Vellani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iman-vellani/) ## More by Kevin Keck > [Energy seems to be the more critical of those two variables, because if I'm really feeling the push/pull to write, then I'll make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/energy-seems-to-be-the-more-critical-of-those-two-variables-because/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [What I need to write is a complicated equation. Maybe if I knew I'd be one of those writers, one of the steady ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/what-i-need-to-write-is-a-complicated-equation-maybe-if-i-knew-i-d-be/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [Of course, I don't mean to imply that all writers are working in the deep waters that border on the divine. Most writers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/of-course-i-don-t-mean-to-imply-that-all-writers-are-working-in-the/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [If you're trying to convey a crucial emotional truth, you have to be in total control of the emotional pacing of the story, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/if-you-re-trying-to-convey-a-crucial-emotional-truth-you-have-to-be/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [In some sense that was a blessing, because it forced me to focus on prose. 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I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It's those moments, those odd moments that you look for and sometimes by creating this kind of loose atmosphere you find those little moments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-levinson/it-s-those-moments-those-odd-moments-that-you-look-for-and-sometimes/) [Barry Levinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-levinson/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! 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That makes the theater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-blaemire/the-liveness-of-theater-and-the-excitement-of-experiencing-it/) [Nick Blaemire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-blaemire/) > [One of the things that touches me most when I play for an audience is that although we may be unable to communicate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/one-of-the-things-that-touches-me-most-when-i-play-for-an-audience-is/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I have to feel the audience. 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