--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing is a perpetual choice between a…" description: "\"Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others. Ye..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_choices_writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a_193034.png" --- # Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand… ![“Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others. Yet I ought to know that only music permits a succession of chords.” quote by Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_choices_writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a_193034.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_choices_writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a_193034.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_choices_writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a_193034.png) > “Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others. Yet I ought to know that only music permits a succession of chords.” [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing demands choosing among many forms; only music offers seamless progression of ideas. **In simple terms:** Writing is a series of hard choices. Key Takeaway Embrace the difficulty of artistic decisions. Themes writing creativity choice Mood thoughtful inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - authoring - composing - editing - teaching writing Key Concepts artistic expression music as metaphor creative tension Questions to Reflect On - Which artistic form feels most fluid to you? - How does music inspire your writing? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can stall creation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Chords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chords/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Permit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permit/) [Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual/) [Succession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succession/) [Succession Chords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succession-chords-2034018/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand Expressions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-expressions-2034017/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-perpetual-2034016/) ## Related quotes > [Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. 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Each of these seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/liberalism-s-fatal-flaw-is-that-it-has-no-permanent-norms-only-a/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [For me, it's very easy to write a horror movie that's just a succession of scary sequences, but it's hard to find horror movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehren-kruger/for-me-it-s-very-easy-to-write-a-horror-movie-that-s-just-a/) [Ehren Kruger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehren-kruger/) > [The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-sky-was-a-sparkling-succession-of-black-diamonds-on-black-velvet/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More by Marguerite Yourcenar > [“Any law too often subject to infraction is bad; it is the duty of the legislator to repeal or to change it, lest the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/any-law-too-often-subject-to-infraction-is-bad-it-is-the-duty-of-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/of-all-our-games-love-s-play-is-the-only-one-which-threatens-to/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to reveal, upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-book-may-lie-dormant-for-fifty-years-or-for-two-thousand-years-in-a/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“To eat fruit is to welcome into oneself a fair living object, which is alien to us but is nourished and protected like us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/to-eat-fruit-is-to-welcome-into-oneself-a-fair-living-object-which-is/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything is too far away in the past, or mysteriously too close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-is-too-far-away-in-the-past-or-mysteriously-too-close/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The landscape of my days appears to be composed, like mountainous regions, of varied materials heaped up pell-mell. There I see my nature, itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-landscape-of-my-days-appears-to-be-composed-like-mountainous/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [But happiness is brittle, and if men and circumstances don't destroy it, it is threatened by ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/but-happiness-is-brittle-and-if-men-and-circumstances-don-t-destroy/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A young musician plays scales in his room and only bores his family. 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We are punished for not having been strong enough to remain alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/love-is-a-punishment-we-are-punished-for-not-having-been-strong/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything turns out to be valuable that one does for one’s self without thought of profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-turns-out-to-be-valuable-that-one-does-for-one-s-self/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The world is big … May it please the One who perchance is to expand the human heart to life's full measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-world-is-big-may-it-please-the-one-who-perchance-is-to-expand-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Life is atrocious, we know. But precisely because I expect little of the human condition, man's periods of felicity, his partial progress, his efforts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/life-is-atrocious-we-know-but-precisely-because-i-expect-little-of/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) [Explore all 112 Marguerite Yourcenar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others. 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