--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You need not expect to get your book…" description: "\"You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at interval..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/mark-twain-22_adjectives_you-need-not-expect-to-get-your-book-rig_3124085.jpg" --- # You need not expect to get your book right the first time… ![“You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by…” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/mark-twain-22_adjectives_you-need-not-expect-to-get-your-book-rig_3124085.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/mark-twain-22_adjectives_you-need-not-expect-to-get-your-book-rig_3124085.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/mark-twain-22_adjectives_you-need-not-expect-to-get-your-book-rig_3124085.jpg) > “You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by.” [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. Creative work often needs multiple revisions; persistence and willingness to overhaul improve quality. **In simple terms:** First drafts are rarely perfect; keep revising. Key Takeaway Embrace revision and persistence. Themes creativity perseverance craftsmanship Mood determined realistic Type advice motivational When to use this quote - writing - publishing - product development - academic research Key Concepts revision iteration authorial discipline Questions to Reflect On - How many drafts are enough? - When does revision become over‑editing? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can stall progress if over‑emphasized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Intervals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervals/) [Lightning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/) [Thunder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thunder/) [Thunder and lightning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thunder-and-lightning/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [You need not expect to get your book right the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-need-not-expect-to-get-your-book-right-the-first-time/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/god-only-exhibits-his-thunder-and-lightning-at-intervals-and-so-they/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [As for anticipation, you never know what to expect of a book. They're like kids: you bring them into the world, fret about them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-crook/as-for-anticipation-you-never-know-what-to-expect-of-a-book-they-re/) [Elizabeth Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-crook/) > [You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-thunder-and-lightning-too-much-the-reader-ceases-to-get-under-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My father and I were always on the most distant terms when I was a boy--a sort of armed neutrality, so to speak. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-father-and-i-were-always-on-the-most-distant-terms-when-i-was-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I ordinarily smoke fifteen cigars during my five hours' labours, and if my interest reaches the enthusiastic point, I smoke more. I smoke with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-ordinarily-smoke-fifteen-cigars-during-my-five-hours-labours-and-if/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/man-is-the-only-patriot-he-sets-himself-apart-in-his-own-country/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The right book at the right time, may mean more in a persone's life than anything else”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-shippey/the-right-book-at-the-right-time-may-mean-more-in-a-persone-s-life/) Lee shippey > [Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/read-a-book-at-the-right-age-and-it-will-stay-with-you-for-life/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [Because of what I do, it has to be an open book, but right now this is a book that is being written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/because-of-what-i-do-it-has-to-be-an-open-book-but-right-now-this-is/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [“And just so you know—that winter forest we walked into first? That was from Through the Looking Glass too. Hey, if you’re going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-lothlorien/and-just-so-you-know-that-winter-forest-we-walked-into-first-that-was/) Elle Lothlorien > [“someone has mixed and shuffled the words of the Book more than was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/someone-has-mixed-and-shuffled-the-words-of-the-book-more-than-was/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“You have to read a book at the right time for you, and I am sure this cannot be insisted on too often, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-have-to-read-a-book-at-the-right-time-for-you-and-i-am-sure-this/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“Choosing a book is so gratifying, it’s worth dragging out the process, starting even before finishing the current one. As the final chapters approach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-paul/choosing-a-book-is-so-gratifying-it-s-worth-dragging-out-the-process/) [Pamela Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-paul/) > [I think it's wrong, ladies and gentlemen, for anybody to to be terrorized out of investigating anything. You have the right to read any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lincoln-rockwell/i-think-it-s-wrong-ladies-and-gentlemen-for-anybody-to-to-be/) [George Lincoln Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lincoln-rockwell/) ## 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 Adjectives quotes > [To write or even speak English is not a science but an art. There are no reliable words… Whoever writes English is involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/to-write-or-even-speak-english-is-not-a-science-but-an-art-there-are/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Avoid the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver - words like "enthralling" and "luminous."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/avoid-the-ecstatic-adjectives-that-occupy-such-disproportionate-space/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [In the history of the concept of number has been adjective (three cows, three monads) and noun (three, pure and simple), and now ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-mazur/in-the-history-of-the-concept-of-number-has-been-adjective-three-cows/) [Barry Mazur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-mazur/) > [In my opinion, using different kinds of epithets and adjectives in connection with the word democracy is a sign of mere hypocrisy, to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/in-my-opinion-using-different-kinds-of-epithets-and-adjectives-in/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [Eschew all those beastly adjectives...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/eschew-all-those-beastly-adjectives/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [I will give you my definition of a nation, and you can add the adjective 'Jewish.' A Nation is, in my mind, an historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-herzl/i-will-give-you-my-definition-of-a-nation-and-you-can-add-the/) [Theodor Herzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-herzl/) > [The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/the-mind-that-thought-of-light-heavy-grey-yellow-still-swift-also/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [Whatever you want to say, there is only one word to express it, only one verb to give it movement, only one adjective to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/whatever-you-want-to-say-there-is-only-one-word-to-express-it-only/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English―it is the modern way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-notice-that-you-use-plain-simple-language-short-words-and-brief/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Purity of action guided Janis's behavior. If she was going to be good, she was very, very good. If she was going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/purity-of-action-guided-janis-s-behavior-if-she-was-going-to-be-good/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [I have been called 'Bongshell' the day I stepped into showbiz. So, any adjective coming my way, I take it positively. Sometimes it's also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/i-have-been-called-bongshell-the-day-i-stepped-into-showbiz-so-any/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) > [I like that 'Mad Men' is now an adjective I use to describe clothing when I'm shopping: 'I like this top. It's very 'Mad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-brie/i-like-that-mad-men-is-now-an-adjective-i-use-to-describe-clothing/) [Alison Brie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-brie/) > [anything being perceived as being superior takes the noun. And everything that isn't, that's judged to be inferior, requires an adjective. So there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/anything-being-perceived-as-being-superior-takes-the-noun-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The only sort of descriptive adjective or catch phrase for my music would be 'eclectic.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/the-only-sort-of-descriptive-adjective-or-catch-phrase-for-my-music/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) Browse all 239 Adjectives quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. 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