--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For both writer and reader, the novel is…" description: "\"For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races.\" — Mary McCarthy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png" --- # For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely… ![“For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races.” quote by Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png) > “For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races.” [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing and reading are solitary acts where imagination drives the experience. **In simple terms:** Writing and reading are solitary, driven by imagination. Key Takeaway Value imagination in solitary pursuits. Themes creativity solitude literature Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical essay literary commentary When to use this quote - author writing - reader engagement - creative solitude Key Concepts imagination mental engagement Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination compensate for solitude? - What role does physical activity play in creative work? A Different Perspective Physical isolation may limit social connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Lonely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I read a lot. I am an inveterate reader. I always have a novel going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-sizemore/i-read-a-lot-i-am-an-inveterate-reader-i-always-have-a-novel-going/) [Tom Sizemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-sizemore/) > [Dorothy B. Hughes - there's a robust elegance to her writing that I keep responding to again and again. I've read her novel 'In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/dorothy-b-hughes-there-s-a-robust-elegance-to-her-writing-that-i-keep/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Reading Dorothy B. Hughes's novel 'In a Lonely Place' for the first time is like finding the long-lost final piece to an enormous puzzle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/reading-dorothy-b-hughes-s-novel-in-a-lonely-place-for-the-first-time/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat with a team-mate or reporter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-atherton/the-archives-recall-not-one-single-incriminating-incident-not-one/) Michael Atherton > [Not everyone likes the stable, gradual rise of our country. There are some who are using the democratic ideology to interfere in our internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/not-everyone-likes-the-stable-gradual-rise-of-our-country-there-are/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The Eisenhower administration believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-albright/in-1953-the-united-states-played-a-significant-role-in-orchestrating/) [Madeleine Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-albright/) > [My hope does not rest in the affairs of this world. It rests in Christ who is coming again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/my-hope-does-not-rest-in-the-affairs-of-this-world-it-rests-in-christ/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [As long as the state permits itself to interfere in the affairs of literature, literature has the right to interfere with the affairs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/as-long-as-the-state-permits-itself-to-interfere-in-the-affairs-of/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [For a young man to start his career with a love affair with an older woman was quite de rigueur ... Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [I wonder if it's possible to have a love affair that lasts forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-wonder-if-it-s-possible-to-have-a-love-affair-that-lasts-forever/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) ## More by Mary McCarthy > [From what I have seen, I am driven to the conclusion that religion is only good for good people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/from-what-i-have-seen-i-am-driven-to-the-conclusion-that-religion-is/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Yet friendship, I believe, is essential to intellectuals. It is probably the growth hormone the mind requires as it begins its activity of producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/yet-friendship-i-believe-is-essential-to-intellectuals-it-is-probably/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Any sizeable Portuguese town looks like a superstitious bride's finery - something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/any-sizeable-portuguese-town-looks-like-a-superstitious-bride-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The desire to believe the best of people is a prerequisite for intercourse with strangers; suspicion is reserved for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-desire-to-believe-the-best-of-people-is-a-prerequisite-for/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [ “She considered \[her\] life, which had not been a life but only a sort of greeting, a Hello There.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/she-considered-her-life-which-had-not-been-a-life-but-only-a-sort-of/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [America is indeed a revelation, though not quite the one that was planned. Given a clean slate, man, it was hoped, would write the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/america-is-indeed-a-revelation-though-not-quite-the-one-that-was/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The happy ending is our national belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-happy-ending-is-our-national-belief/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Making love, we are all more alike than we are when we are talking or acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/making-love-we-are-all-more-alike-than-we-are-when-we-are-talking-or/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-america-children-are-instructed-in-the-virtues-of-the-system-they/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The only form of action open to a child is to break something or strike someone, its mother or another child; it cannot cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-only-form-of-action-open-to-a-child-is-to-break-something-or/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Combativeness was, I suppose, the dominant trait in my grandmother's nature. An aggressive churchgoer, she was quite without Christian feeling; the mercy of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/combativeness-was-i-suppose-the-dominant-trait-in-my-grandmother-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I'm afraid I'm not sufficiently inhibited about the things that other women are inhibited about for me. They feel that you've given away trade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/i-m-afraid-i-m-not-sufficiently-inhibited-about-the-things-that-other/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Be truthful... and pay attention. I would also recommend the avoidance of credit cards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/be-truthful-and-pay-attention-i-would-also-recommend-the-avoidance-of/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [All ideas advanced to deal with the Florentine noise problem, the Florentine traffic problem, are Utopian, and nobody believes in them, just as nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/all-ideas-advanced-to-deal-with-the-florentine-noise-problem-the/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) [Explore all 154 Mary McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) ## More Affair quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [I wonder if it's possible to have a love affair that lasts forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-wonder-if-it-s-possible-to-have-a-love-affair-that-lasts-forever/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [For a young man to start his career with a love affair with an older woman was quite de rigueur ... Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [As long as the state permits itself to interfere in the affairs of literature, literature has the right to interfere with the affairs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/as-long-as-the-state-permits-itself-to-interfere-in-the-affairs-of/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [My hope does not rest in the affairs of this world. It rests in Christ who is coming again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/my-hope-does-not-rest-in-the-affairs-of-this-world-it-rests-in-christ/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The Eisenhower administration believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-albright/in-1953-the-united-states-played-a-significant-role-in-orchestrating/) [Madeleine Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-albright/) > [Not everyone likes the stable, gradual rise of our country. There are some who are using the democratic ideology to interfere in our internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/not-everyone-likes-the-stable-gradual-rise-of-our-country-there-are/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat with a team-mate or reporter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-atherton/the-archives-recall-not-one-single-incriminating-incident-not-one/) Michael Atherton > [“I ripped the sketch from the wall. "Liar." Edward looked more ravaged than usual. "That is a terrible word, coming from you." "Yup." "And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jensen/i-ripped-the-sketch-from-the-wall-liar-edward-looked-more-ravaged/) [Melissa Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jensen/) > [For some people, a one-night stand doesn't make any difference in a seven-year love affair. I don't believe the degree of betrayal is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/for-some-people-a-one-night-stand-doesn-t-make-any-difference-in-a/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [And what is literature, Rabo," he said, "but an insider's newsletter about affairs relating to molecules, of no importance to anything in the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/and-what-is-literature-rabo-he-said-but-an-insider-s-newsletter-about/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) [Browse all 2,218 Affair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary McCarthy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is-a-lonely-physically-inactive/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is-a-lonely-physically-inactive/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/mary-mccarthy-2691_affair_for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is_2980957.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races.” — Mary McCarthy", "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": "Mary McCarthy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For both writer and reader, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is-a-lonely-physically-inactive/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/for-both-writer-and-reader-the-novel-is-a-lonely-physically-inactive/#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 } } ] } ```