--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We writers can use our own longing - and…" description: "\"“We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do - without ever having to understand or analyze it. That is why our stories are often wiser than..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/marion-dane-bauer-25339_longing_we-writers-can-use-our-own-longing-and-f_2900299.png" --- # We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do… ![“We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do - without ever having to understand or analyze it. That is why our stories are often wiser than we are.” quote by Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/marion-dane-bauer-25339_longing_we-writers-can-use-our-own-longing-and-f_2900299.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/marion-dane-bauer-25339_longing_we-writers-can-use-our-own-longing-and-f_2900299.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/marion-dane-bauer-25339_longing_we-writers-can-use-our-own-longing-and-f_2900299.png) > ““We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do - without ever having to understand or analyze it. That is why our stories are often wiser than we are.”” [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers channel personal longing without fully understanding it, allowing stories to convey deeper wisdom than the writer’s self‑awareness. **In simple terms:** Stories can be wiser than their creators. Key Takeaway Trust intuition in writing. Themes creativity self‑knowledge storytelling intuition wisdom Mood introspective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - poetry - screenwriting - personal journaling Key Concepts unconscious desire narrative intelligence Questions to Reflect On - What hidden longings shape your work? - Can you balance feeling with analysis? A Different Perspective Relying on intuition may overlook critical analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Analyze Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analyze-stories-4120897/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longing Frequently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing-frequently-4120898/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Stories Wiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-wiser-4120895/) [Use Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-longing-4120896/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [You don't choose your themes; they choose you. The meaning of your stories will rise out of your deepest longings, often out of longings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/you-don-t-choose-your-themes-they-choose-you-the-meaning-of-your/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“Life is a collection of memories and feelings. Mawkish sentimentally urges us to engage in artistic overtures, we yearn to share with other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/life-is-a-collection-of-memories-and-feelings-mawkish-sentimentally/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [You don't know why, but you know you have to go home. It's an eternal longing. It's Marvell's drop of dew wanting to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-don-t-know-why-but-you-know-you-have-to-go-home-it-s-an-eternal/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“I walk with a dual longing for life and for death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-lee-houghton/i-walk-with-a-dual-longing-for-life-and-for-death/) [Melissa Lee-Houghton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-lee-houghton/) > [“…The truth: dreaming is lonely the further away the closer to this one time No one has held me for so long Days stitch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angkarn-chanthathip/the-truth-dreaming-is-lonely-the-further-away-the-closer-to-this-one/) [Angkarn Chanthathip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angkarn-chanthathip/) > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/how-sad-he-thought-that-desire-found-new-objects-but-did-not-abate/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [If we really face our sadness, we find it speaks with the voice of our deepest longing. And if we face it a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/if-we-really-face-our-sadness-we-find-it-speaks-with-the-voice-of-our/) [Peter Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kingsley/) > [To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/to-show-a-longing-for-anything-that-one-cannot-have-for-instance-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It (taking photographs) is all about longingwithout longing-no pictures at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-petersen/it-taking-photographs-is-all-about-longingwithout-longing-no-pictures/) [Anders Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-petersen/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) ## More by Marion Dane Bauer > [I was an adult before I began to learn that there is a difference between a conversation and an argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/i-was-an-adult-before-i-began-to-learn-that-there-is-a-difference/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“I have never met a bigot who was a reader as a child. (ix)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/i-have-never-met-a-bigot-who-was-a-reader-as-a-child-ix/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [You don't choose your themes; they choose you. The meaning of your stories will rise out of your deepest longings, often out of longings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/you-don-t-choose-your-themes-they-choose-you-the-meaning-of-your/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“The power of fiction is that it gives us, as readers, the opportunity to move inside another human being, to look out through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/the-power-of-fiction-is-that-it-gives-us-as-readers-the-opportunity/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [Human beings are storytelling animals. That's what separates us from other creatures, not just having thumbs or using tools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/human-beings-are-storytelling-animals-that-s-what-separates-us-from/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of a hill. You must have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/writing-the-opening-lines-of-a-story-is-a-bit-like-starting-to-ski-at/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [Never think of revising as fixing something that is wrong. That starts you off in a negative frame of mind. Rather think of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/never-think-of-revising-as-fixing-something-that-is-wrong-that-starts/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [I used to tiptoe up to my bedroom door and leap into my room in an attempt to surprise my dolls in the midst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/i-used-to-tiptoe-up-to-my-bedroom-door-and-leap-into-my-room-in-an/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [It is the nature of stories to leave out far more than they include.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/it-is-the-nature-of-stories-to-leave-out-far-more-than-they-include/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“But never in his saddest dreams had he thought he'd spend his last years dusting this enormous old house for no one at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/but-never-in-his-saddest-dreams-had-he-thought-he-d-spend-his-last/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [another word for talent is obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/another-word-for-talent-is-obsession/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“You should know better than to run from a storm, too. We wolves are careful. Always we are careful. But we are not afraid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/you-should-know-better-than-to-run-from-a-storm-too-we-wolves-are/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“So much longing. So many lives filled with longing. It's what stories― all our stories― are made of. And what is longing made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/so-much-longing-so-many-lives-filled-with-longing-it-s-what-stories/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [It is curious how believable I can be when I criticize myself, how unconvincing when I give myself praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/it-is-curious-how-believable-i-can-be-when-i-criticize-myself-how/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [“A cry drifted along Walnut Street, more mournful than any tears. It rode a puff of breeze into the bedroom where Mark lay, holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/a-cry-drifted-along-walnut-street-more-mournful-than-any-tears-it/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) [Explore all 23 Marion Dane Bauer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) [Kevin O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-brien/) > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do - without ever having to understand or analyze it. 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