--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: a writer is a foreign country" description: "\"a writer is a foreign country\" — Marguerite Duras" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/marguerite-duras-2040_country_a-writer-is-a-foreign-country-2749221_2749221.jpg" --- # a writer is a foreign country ![“a writer is a foreign country” quote by Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/marguerite-duras-2040_country_a-writer-is-a-foreign-country-2749221_2749221.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/marguerite-duras-2040_country_a-writer-is-a-foreign-country-2749221_2749221.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/marguerite-duras-2040_country_a-writer-is-a-foreign-country-2749221_2749221.jpg) > “a writer is a foreign country” [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests that writing transports one to an imagined, foreign realm. **In simple terms:** Writing creates an imagined foreign country. Key Takeaway Use writing to explore new perspectives. Themes creativity identity exploration Mood introspective inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - workshop participation - travel journaling Key Concepts imaginary worlds self‑discovery Questions to Reflect On - How does writing change your sense of self? - What foreign cultures inspire your creative work? A Different Perspective Interpretation may vary among readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign/) [Foreign country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-country/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-foreign-3086324/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Men like women who write. Even though they don't say so. A writer is a foreign country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/men-like-women-who-write-even-though-they-don-t-say-so-a-writer-is-a/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“The writer is a secret criminal. How? First because writing tries to undertake the journey toward strange sources of art that are foreign to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-ne-cixous/the-writer-is-a-secret-criminal-how-first-because-writing-tries-to/) [Hélène Cixous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-ne-cixous/) > [Being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/being-in-a-foreign-country-means-walking-a-tightrope-high-above-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [It was very liberating, living in a foreign country, a place where everything was new and strange - the food, the customs, the climate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-moggach/it-was-very-liberating-living-in-a-foreign-country-a-place-where/) [Deborah Moggach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-moggach/) > [The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/the-first-condition-of-understanding-a-foreign-country-is-to-smell-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [A foreign country can best be understood through its literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/a-foreign-country-can-best-be-understood-through-its-literature/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [All of life is a foreign country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/all-of-life-is-a-foreign-country/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Since coming back from overseas, this is more of a foreign country than the places overseas. I don't understand it. It's like America has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-mattis/since-coming-back-from-overseas-this-is-more-of-a-foreign-country/) [Jim Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-mattis/) > [Both my parents moved here from Argentina before I was born, so they were in a foreign country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camila-morrone/both-my-parents-moved-here-from-argentina-before-i-was-born-so-they/) [Camila Morrone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camila-morrone/) > [The South is like a foreign country to me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lagravenese/the-south-is-like-a-foreign-country-to-me/) [Richard LaGravenese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lagravenese/) > [Where in the Constitution does it say that because we don't like a foreign country's leader, we should go in and topple the dictator?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-johnson/where-in-the-constitution-does-it-say-that-because-we-don-t-like-a/) [Gary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-johnson/) > [Splendid to arrive alone in a foreign country and feel the assault of difference. 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You've got Black Hawk helicopters, Apache…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-reality-is-is-that-the-military-is-full-of-native-nomenclature/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [There are not a lot of German players out there who are successful in a foreign country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/per-mertesacker/there-are-not-a-lot-of-german-players-out-there-who-are-successful-in/) [Per Mertesacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/per-mertesacker/) ## More by Marguerite Duras > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [I know it's not clothes that make women beautiful or otherwise, nor beauty care, nor expensive creams, nor the distinction of costliness of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-know-it-s-not-clothes-that-make-women-beautiful-or-otherwise-nor/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“And modern houses don't have passages, either, for children to play and run about in, and for dogs, umbrellas, coats and satchels. And don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/and-modern-houses-don-t-have-passages-either-for-children-to-play-and/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [When a woman drinks it's as if an animal were drinking, or a child. Alcoholism is scandalous in a woman, and a female alcoholic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/when-a-woman-drinks-it-s-as-if-an-animal-were-drinking-or-a-child/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Some people are like that - closed - they can't learn from anyone. Us, for example, we can't learn anything, neither I from you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/some-people-are-like-that-closed-they-can-t-learn-from-anyone-us-for/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [I often think of the image only I can see now, and of which I’ve never spoken. It’s always there, in the same silence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-often-think-of-the-image-only-i-can-see-now-and-of-which-i-ve-never/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [In love there are no vacations. No such thing. Love has to be lived fully with its boredom and all that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/in-love-there-are-no-vacations-no-such-thing-love-has-to-be-lived/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Très vite dans ma vie il a été trop tard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/tr-s-vite-dans-ma-vie-il-a-t-trop-tard/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“she can remember everyone admiring a rare kind of evening they spoke of as something they ought to save from oblivion to describe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-can-remember-everyone-admiring-a-rare-kind-of-evening-they-spoke/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/all-that-remains-of-that-minute-is-time-in-all-its-purity-bone-white/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-associated-with-a-persistent/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“─ No le conozco a usted. Nadie puede conocerle, ponerse en su lugar, usted no tiene lugar, no sabe dónde encontrar un lugar. Por…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/no-le-conozco-a-usted-nadie-puede-conocerle-ponerse-en-su-lugar-usted/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [She represents the un-vowed aspiration of the male human being, his potential infidelity - and infidelity of a very special kind, which would lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-represents-the-un-vowed-aspiration-of-the-male-human-being-his/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“I think it was during this journey that the image became detached, removed from all the rest. It might have existed, a photograph might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-think-it-was-during-this-journey-that-the-image-became-detached/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Among all the other nights upon nights, the girl had spent that one on the boat….when it happened, the burst of Chopin…. There wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/among-all-the-other-nights-upon-nights-the-girl-had-spent-that-one-on/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) [Explore all 129 Marguerite Duras quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## More Country quotes > [I love playing for my country, getting the support. 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