--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Novelists have to love humanity to write…" description: "\"Novelists have to love humanity to write anything worthwhile. Poets have to love themselves.\" — Marita Golden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0c/marita-golden-31992_humanity_novelists-have-to-love-humanity-to-write_1902136.jpg" --- # Novelists have to love humanity to write anything… ![“Novelists have to love humanity to write anything worthwhile. Poets have to love themselves.” quote by Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0c/marita-golden-31992_humanity_novelists-have-to-love-humanity-to-write_1902136.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0c/marita-golden-31992_humanity_novelists-have-to-love-humanity-to-write_1902136.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0c/marita-golden-31992_humanity_novelists-have-to-love-humanity-to-write_1902136.jpg) > “Novelists have to love humanity to write anything worthwhile. Poets have to love themselves.” [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing meaningful work requires empathy for others and self‑acceptance for poets. **In simple terms:** Writers need love for people; poets need self‑love. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy and self‑respect. Themes creativity empathy self‑acceptance Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - poetry workshops - personal journaling - teaching writing Key Concepts humanism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does love influence your creative choices? - Can self‑love coexist with critique? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on love may ignore critical perspective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humanity Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity-write-2813361/) [Love Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-human/) [Love Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-humanity/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Novelists Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists-love-2813362/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-love-702363/) [Worthwhile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worthwhile/) [Worthwhile Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worthwhile-poets-2813363/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Many thousands of people have had the experience of finding the first friend, and it is none the less a wonder; as great a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/many-thousands-of-people-have-had-the-experience-of-finding-the-first/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“There is a self-destructive program running in the consciousness of humanity, and we must write a new program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/there-is-a-self-destructive-program-running-in-the-consciousness-of/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [It's easy to love humanity when you're this far away from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-day-lewis/it-s-easy-to-love-humanity-when-you-re-this-far-away-from-it/) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-day-lewis/) > [It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-easier-to-love-humanity-as-a-whole-than-to-love-one-s-neighbor/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“The more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular. In my dreams, I often make plans for the service…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-more-i-love-humanity-in-general-the-less-i-love-man-in-particular/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [I love humanity, I love the way people look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grimes/i-love-humanity-i-love-the-way-people-look/) [Grimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grimes/) > [I love Humanity but I hate humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-love-humanity-but-i-hate-humans/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“Many love humanity only in order to forget God with a clear conscience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/many-love-humanity-only-in-order-to-forget-god-with-a-clear-conscience/) [Nicolás Gómez Dávila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“I love humanity but I hate humans. —Albert Einstein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-t-abby/i-love-humanity-but-i-hate-humans-albert-einstein/) [S.T. Abby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-t-abby/) > [One must love humanity in order to reach out into the unique essence of each individual: no one can be too low or too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-b-chner/one-must-love-humanity-in-order-to-reach-out-into-the-unique-essence/) [Georg Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-b-chner/) > [“Serving others is the surest and practical way of channeling your love. There is no love through lip service. If you love humanity, serve…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/serving-others-is-the-surest-and-practical-way-of-channeling-your/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) > [I love my country better than my family; but I love humanity better than my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/i-love-my-country-better-than-my-family-but-i-love-humanity-better/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [I love humanity but I hate people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/i-love-humanity-but-i-hate-people/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [If you really want to love humanity, then you have to love humanity as it is now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/if-you-really-want-to-love-humanity-then-you-have-to-love-humanity-as/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“They say, love God, for it is the greatest virtue. I say, love humans, for there is no greater virtue, no greater religion, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/they-say-love-god-for-it-is-the-greatest-virtue-i-say-love-humans-for/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Marita Golden > [I am a stranger to half measures. With life I am on the attack, restlessly ferreting out each pleasure, foraging for answers, wringing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/i-am-a-stranger-to-half-measures-with-life-i-am-on-the-attack/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [Ironically, white America will catapult books about race to the top of the best-seller list, even as racism remains a national open wound. Obsession…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/ironically-white-america-will-catapult-books-about-race-to-the-top-of/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [“We knew no one man had killed the prophet. Rather, the combined weight of racism and an absence of moral courage had crushed him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/we-knew-no-one-man-had-killed-the-prophet-rather-the-combined-weight/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [We black women must forgive black men for not protecting us against slavery, racism, white men, our confusion, their doubts. And black men must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/we-black-women-must-forgive-black-men-for-not-protecting-us-against/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [Love is going to replace life and from then on it's all smooth sailing. Love will replace life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/love-is-going-to-replace-life-and-from-then-on-it-s-all-smooth/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [Surviving and believing in tomorrow is just a habit I can't break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/surviving-and-believing-in-tomorrow-is-just-a-habit-i-can-t-break/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [Imagination bound us stronger than love. Within its limitless borders we launched ships and love affairs, discovered lost worlds, made buildings and babies, found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/imagination-bound-us-stronger-than-love-within-its-limitless-borders/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [The symbiotic relationship between reading and writing is a cornerstone of our individual intellectual journey and our educational system. We write as an act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/the-symbiotic-relationship-between-reading-and-writing-is-a/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [Racism is a virus. And since nobody's really looking too hard for a cure it reproduces itself over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/racism-is-a-virus-and-since-nobody-s-really-looking-too-hard-for-a/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [To my father, who told me the stories that matter. To my mother, who taught me to remember them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/to-my-father-who-told-me-the-stories-that-matter-to-my-mother-who/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [“My life is too important to share with someone who can't understand it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/my-life-is-too-important-to-share-with-someone-who-can-t-understand-it/) [marita golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [My mother used to do all the things that were important to her after midnight. ... Sometimes I'd sneak downstairs and see her knitting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/my-mother-used-to-do-all-the-things-that-were-important-to-her-after/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [I quickly learned that motherhood was a high wire act sometimes performed without a net.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/i-quickly-learned-that-motherhood-was-a-high-wire-act-sometimes/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [I am a stranger to half measures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/i-am-a-stranger-to-half-measures/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) > [It was important, I know, for my father as a product of his times not to be vulnerable, so he chose, and I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marita-golden/it-was-important-i-know-for-my-father-as-a-product-of-his-times-not/) [Marita Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) [Explore all 16 Marita Golden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marita-golden/) ## More Humanity quotes > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Is it necessary to recall that the earth is not infinite, and that our civilization is close to having invaded all of it? The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-tarde/is-it-necessary-to-recall-that-the-earth-is-not-infinite-and-that-our/) [Gabriel Tarde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-tarde/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Once the switch of parenthood is thrown, it changes you for ever & you can never escape the extra pull of humanity it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hammond/once-the-switch-of-parenthood-is-thrown-it-changes-you-for-ever-you/) [Richard hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hammond/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“I now know that deep within the human concept is something dark, selfish, and completely willing to do whatever is necessary to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-west/i-now-know-that-deep-within-the-human-concept-is-something-dark/) [Melissa West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-west/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/he-grew-away-from-old-associations-and-saw-something-new-in-life-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [He is not humanity deified. He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-is-not-humanity-deified-he-is-not-godhead-humanized-he-is-god-he/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [You must not lose faith in humanity. 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