--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I believed that if I was to call myself a…" description: "\"I believed that if I was to call myself a writer, I should live on writing. If I could not live on it, even simply, I should destroy every scrap, every..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/mavis-gallant-21083_if-i-could_i-believed-that-if-i-was-to-call-myself_831094.jpg" --- # I believed that if I was to call myself a writer, I should… ![“I believed that if I was to call myself a writer, I should live on writing. If I could not live on it, even simply, I should destroy every scrap, every trace, every notebook and live some other way.” quote by Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/mavis-gallant-21083_if-i-could_i-believed-that-if-i-was-to-call-myself_831094.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/mavis-gallant-21083_if-i-could_i-believed-that-if-i-was-to-call-myself_831094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/mavis-gallant-21083_if-i-could_i-believed-that-if-i-was-to-call-myself_831094.jpg) > “I believed that if I was to call myself a writer, I should live on writing. If I could not live on it, even simply, I should destroy every scrap, every trace, every notebook and live some other way.” [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A writer must fully commit to the craft, or abandon it completely to avoid living a half‑hearted life. **In simple terms:** Commit fully or quit. Key Takeaway Choose dedication over compromise. Themes commitment authenticity identity Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - creative projects - personal identity - life purpose Key Concepts existentialism artistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - What would you sacrifice for your art? - Is total dedication realistic? A Different Perspective Total immersion may be unsustainable for many. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Notebook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebook/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes, you write things that sound really great when you're at home but don't work when you shine the light of an audience on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barratt/sometimes-you-write-things-that-sound-really-great-when-you-re-at/) [Julian Barratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barratt/) > [I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider. If I was offered anything like the Nobel Prize for Literature, I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-writer-has-got-to-remain-an-outsider-if-i/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“I am more of a doer than a writer. I do not live to write. I write because I have lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurman-p-banks-jr/i-am-more-of-a-doer-than-a-writer-i-do-not-live-to-write-i-write/) [Thurman P. Banks Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurman-p-banks-jr/) > [“The obligation of a writer is to live out loud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-obligation-of-a-writer-is-to-live-out-loud/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [As a writer, you live in such isolation. It's hard to imagine your book has a life beyond you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/as-a-writer-you-live-in-such-isolation-it-s-hard-to-imagine-your-book/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [A writer has to live with a sense of honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/a-writer-has-to-live-with-a-sense-of-honor/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [“Dessy, don't grow up to be a writer. Because when you live too much in your own head, you neglect the people you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-tracy/dessy-don-t-grow-up-to-be-a-writer-because-when-you-live-too-much-in/) [Kristen Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-tracy/) > [Ever since I was a girl, I have written about one to five pages every day - on napkins, on scrap paper, in notebooks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/ever-since-i-was-a-girl-i-have-written-about-one-to-five-pages-every/) [Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/) > [...imagine what you are writing about. See it and live it. Do not think it up laboriously, as if you were working out mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-hughes/imagine-what-you-are-writing-about-see-it-and-live-it-do-not-think-it/) [Ted Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-hughes/) > [The actual writing is what you live for. The rest is something you have to get through in order to arrive at the point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-actual-writing-is-what-you-live-for-the-rest-is-something-you/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [I discovered, to my surprise, that writing for live television made me a faster writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/i-discovered-to-my-surprise-that-writing-for-live-television-made-me/) [Lawrence O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-o-donnell/) > [You start by writing to live. You end by writing so as not to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/you-start-by-writing-to-live-you-end-by-writing-so-as-not-to-die/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [By writing I can live in ways that I could not survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/by-writing-i-can-live-in-ways-that-i-could-not-survive/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [As an actor, you're tied to the writing. You live and die by what's written for you. And you can elevate that to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolk/as-an-actor-you-re-tied-to-the-writing-you-live-and-die-by-what-s/) [James Wolk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolk/) ## More by Mavis Gallant > [“Like his father, like Jules Renard, he had been carried along the slow, steady swindle of history and experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/like-his-father-like-jules-renard-he-had-been-carried-along-the-slow/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [Success can only be measured in terms of distance traveled...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/success-can-only-be-measured-in-terms-of-distance-traveled/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [“Converts have it soft," said Mary. "They come to it late, without ever having had the Devil under the bed. They sail in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/converts-have-it-soft-said-mary-they-come-to-it-late-without-ever/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [“If your life isn't exactly the way you want it to be by the time you are forty-five," said Walter's father, whom he admired,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/if-your-life-isn-t-exactly-the-way-you-want-it-to-be-by-the-time-you/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [All lives are interesting; no one life is more interesting than another. Its fascination depends on how much is revealed, and in what manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/all-lives-are-interesting-no-one-life-is-more-interesting-than/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [ \[My father\] had spent his own short time like a priest in charge of a relic, forever expecting the blessed blood to liquefy. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/my-father-had-spent-his-own-short-time-like-a-priest-in-charge-of-a/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [“There is a term for people caught on a street crossing after the light has changed: "pedestrian-traffic residue".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/there-is-a-term-for-people-caught-on-a-street-crossing-after-the/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [Like every other form of art, literature is no more and nothing less than a matter of life and death. The only question worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/like-every-other-form-of-art-literature-is-no-more-and-nothing-less/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [I write every day as a matter of course It is not a burden. It is the way I live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/i-write-every-day-as-a-matter-of-course-it-is-not-a-burden-it-is-the/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [No one is as real to me as people in the novel. It grows like a living thing. When I realize they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/no-one-is-as-real-to-me-as-people-in-the-novel-it-grows-like-a-living/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [“My mother has lived every day of her life as if it were preparation for some kind of crisis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/my-mother-has-lived-every-day-of-her-life-as-if-it-were-preparation/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [Against the sustained tick of a watch, fiction takes the measure of a life, a season, a look exchanged, the turning point, desire as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/against-the-sustained-tick-of-a-watch-fiction-takes-the-measure-of-a/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [I wanted to live in Paris and write nothing but fiction and be perfectly free. I had decided all this had to be settled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/i-wanted-to-live-in-paris-and-write-nothing-but-fiction-and-be/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [“If you listen at doors, you hear what you deserve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/if-you-listen-at-doors-you-hear-what-you-deserve/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) > [There is something I keep wanting to say about reading short stories. I am doing it now, because I many never have another occasion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mavis-gallant/there-is-something-i-keep-wanting-to-say-about-reading-short-stories/) [Mavis Gallant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) [Explore all 30 Mavis Gallant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mavis-gallant/) ## More If i could quotes > [If I could find the right kind of property, get tied in with the right movie, I'd love to be involved, but I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-yankovic/if-i-could-find-the-right-kind-of-property-get-tied-in-with-the-right/) [Al Yankovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-yankovic/) > [If I could be anyone, I'd choose the lead singer of Arcade Fire, Win Butler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-kardashian/if-i-could-be-anyone-i-d-choose-the-lead-singer-of-arcade-fire-win/) [Rob Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-kardashian/) > [If I could ever be on a Missy Elliott record, I could then die. Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige - I love hearing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neko-case/if-i-could-ever-be-on-a-missy-elliott-record-i-could-then-die-missy/) [Neko Case](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neko-case/) > [I grew up in San Diego, so it wasn't hard to move to L.A. to get into show business, but I did the standard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-benson/i-grew-up-in-san-diego-so-it-wasn-t-hard-to-move-to-l-a-to-get-into/) [Doug Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-benson/) > [It's a hard life... but if I could, I would do it all again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-makarova/it-s-a-hard-life-but-if-i-could-i-would-do-it-all-again/) [Natalia Makarova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-makarova/) > [I would prefer to have a more appealing job. If I could still change careers, I would prefer it. This unfortunate art is made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-claudel/i-would-prefer-to-have-a-more-appealing-job-if-i-could-still-change/) [Camille Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-claudel/) > [If I could be granted a wish, I'd shine in your eye like a jewel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bette-midler/if-i-could-be-granted-a-wish-i-d-shine-in-your-eye-like-a-jewel/) [Bette Midler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bette-midler/) > [Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/too-long-have-the-workers-of-the-world-waited-for-some-moses-to-lead/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [If I could send myself a bunch of snake emojis, I probably would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaska/if-i-could-send-myself-a-bunch-of-snake-emojis-i-probably-would/) [Alaska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaska/) > [I have a responsibility, and it's something that I did wrong, and if I could personally apologize to every single person that has lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-richie/i-have-a-responsibility-and-it-s-something-that-i-did-wrong-and-if-i/) [Nicole Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-richie/) > [I'm happy with my career but I could have been happier if I could have been treated like a champion should have been treated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-holmes/i-m-happy-with-my-career-but-i-could-have-been-happier-if-i-could/) [Larry Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-holmes/) > [I would wear a full-length cape if I could get away with it - I do love a good swirl in a fog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-would-wear-a-full-length-cape-if-i-could-get-away-with-it-i-do-love/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it. The foundation of society is laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-visited-sweatshops-factories-and-crowded-slums-if-i-could-not/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I remember calling and asking, because I had a few lines that were like, "How could the character have done this?" and I hadn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alden-ehrenreich/i-remember-calling-and-asking-because-i-had-a-few-lines-that-were/) [Alden Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alden-ehrenreich/) > [I think I can win a slam. That's my main goal, and if I could choose one, then yes, it would have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-berdych/i-think-i-can-win-a-slam-that-s-my-main-goal-and-if-i-could-choose/) [Tomas Berdych](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-berdych/) Browse all 1,195 If i could quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I believed that if I was to call myself a writer, I should live on writing. 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