--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It takes a heap of sense to write good…" description: "\"It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png" --- # It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense ![“It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png) > “It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing nonsense well requires a sharp mind to balance absurdity with sense. **In simple terms:** Good nonsense needs cleverness. Key Takeaway Use wit to make absurd ideas clear. Themes humor creativity language Mood playful ironic Type literary humorous When to use this quote - writing workshops - comic writing - public speaking - teaching literature Key Concepts paradox satire literary technique Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep nonsense purposeful? - When does humor become confusing? A Different Perspective Nonsense can be misunderstood as lack of seriousness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-nonsense-928721/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense/) [Sense Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-write-928722/) [Write Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-good/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think you often have that sense when you write--that if you can spot something in yourself and set it down on paper, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/i-think-you-often-have-that-sense-when-you-write-that-if-you-can-spot/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [Then you develop a kind of critical sense about what you write. You can tell when something is good, but it would be just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/then-you-develop-a-kind-of-critical-sense-about-what-you-write-you/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [In a larger sense, we all write our own destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanda-kochhar/in-a-larger-sense-we-all-write-our-own-destiny/) [Chanda Kochhar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanda-kochhar/) > [Without a mission and a sense of whom you write for, you aren't worth reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-lopez/without-a-mission-and-a-sense-of-whom-you-write-for-you-aren-t-worth/) [Steve Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-lopez/) > [When in doubt, make no sense. No sense is good. And nonsense is good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/when-in-doubt-make-no-sense-no-sense-is-good-and-nonsense-is-good/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [For as to the dispersing of Books, that Circumstance does perhaps as much harm as good: Since Nonsense flies with greater Celerity, and makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/for-as-to-the-dispersing-of-books-that-circumstance-does-perhaps-as/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“Rest assured you make perfectly good nonsense.  I understand you one-hundred-percent not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/rest-assured-you-make-perfectly-good-nonsense-i-understand-you-one/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Good nonsense is good sense in disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/good-nonsense-is-good-sense-in-disguise/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [“Do not be scared to do your good nonsense as it may seem to some people, out your good nonsense their is common sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osunsakin-adewale/do-not-be-scared-to-do-your-good-nonsense-as-it-may-seem-to-some/) [Osunsakin Adewale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osunsakin-adewale/) > [Knighterrantry is a most chuckleheaded trade, and it is tedious hard work, too, but I begin to see that there is money in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/knighterrantry-is-a-most-chuckleheaded-trade-and-it-is-tedious-hard/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To demand 'sense' is the hallmark of nonsense. Nature does not make sense. Nothing makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/to-demand-sense-is-the-hallmark-of-nonsense-nature-does-not-make/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“To recognize bullshit, nose is better than ear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/to-recognize-bullshit-nose-is-better-than-ear/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [It's very hard to tell somebody how to write when they're so good, and they're a brilliant writer and a really good guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/it-s-very-hard-to-tell-somebody-how-to-write-when-they-re-so-good-and/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) > [If you ever read one of my books I hope you'll think it looks so easy. In fact, I wrote those chapters 20 times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/if-you-ever-read-one-of-my-books-i-hope-you-ll-think-it-looks-so-easy/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [What I wanted in life always was to write something as good as 'Pinocchio.' I wanted to write. I wanted to evolve. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/what-i-wanted-in-life-always-was-to-write-something-as-good-as/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Nonsense quotes > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I love people who have such passion for complete nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-handler/i-love-people-who-have-such-passion-for-complete-nonsense/) [Chelsea Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-handler/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/people-forget-that-there-is-a-big-difference-between-coercion-and/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [GenX has a no-nonsense attitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul-dev/genx-has-a-no-nonsense-attitude/) [Rahul Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul-dev/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Films take too long. There's too much BS, too much nonsense. If I want to do a play, I just call the theater, whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-malkovich/films-take-too-long-there-s-too-much-bs-too-much-nonsense-if-i-want/) [John Malkovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-malkovich/) > [While all men are born as equals, to say that Brahmins alone are the highest and all others are low as Pariah (the Untouchables)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/periyar-e-v-ramasamy/while-all-men-are-born-as-equals-to-say-that-brahmins-alone-are-the/) [Periyar E. V. Ramasamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/periyar-e-v-ramasamy/) > [Even God has been defended with nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/even-god-has-been-defended-with-nonsense/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [The idea that there is a difference between East and West is nonsense. You both hand over your card with two hands. If someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-tang/the-idea-that-there-is-a-difference-between-east-and-west-is-nonsense/) [David Tang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-tang/) > [Unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause & effect is nonsense. Buddhas don't practice nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/unless-you-see-your-nature-all-this-talk-about-cause-effect-is/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [It is often sadly remarked that the bad economists present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/it-is-often-sadly-remarked-that-the-bad-economists-present-their/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [“Which distressed that Old Man of Jamaica. nonsense”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lear/which-distressed-that-old-man-of-jamaica-nonsense/) [Edward Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-lear/) > [I hope the day will come when a wasp-waist and a pair of thin shoulders will not be esteemed beauty: we have had our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/i-hope-the-day-will-come-when-a-wasp-waist-and-a-pair-of-thin/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) [Browse all 1,436 Nonsense quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-nonsense/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nonsense" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-nonsense/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/mark-twain-22_nonsense_it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-n_2487369.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It takes a heap of sense...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-nonsense/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-takes-a-heap-of-sense-to-write-good-nonsense/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```