--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fundamentally, all writing is about the…" description: "\"Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg" --- # Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's… ![“Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates.” quote by Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg) > “Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates.” [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing mirrors mortality, emphasizing life's fleeting nature and the frustration it provokes, urging urgency in expression. **In simple terms:** Writing reflects on life's shortness and the frustration it creates. Key Takeaway Embrace urgency in creative work. Themes mortality urgency creativity frustration existence Mood contemplative melancholic motivational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal journals - literary criticism - creative workshops - teaching writing Key Concepts impermanence existential reflection artistic purpose Questions to Reflect On - What does acknowledging mortality enable in art? - How can frustration be transformed into motivation? A Different Perspective May be overly bleak for some audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Frustration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustration/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“All writing is about the same thing - it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/all-writing-is-about-the-same-thing-it-s-about-dying-about-the-brief/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [When things were not going right for me, writing was the only thing that kept my equilibrium right, it has always been a do-it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aditya-dhar/when-things-were-not-going-right-for-me-writing-was-the-only-thing/) [Aditya Dhar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aditya-dhar/) > [“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing anything else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/writing-is-the-only-thing-that-when-i-do-it-i-don-t-feel-i-should-be/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [You know what they're writing about Baby you know what they're writing about It's a thing called love down through the ages Makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/you-know-what-they-re-writing-about-baby-you-know-what-they-re/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I did the co-writing thing all through the '90s and I got one hit out of it - a Keith Urban song called 'But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wiedlin/i-did-the-co-writing-thing-all-through-the-90s-and-i-got-one-hit-out/) [Jane Wiedlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wiedlin/) > [“Writing the thing is the journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigia-stephens/writing-the-thing-is-the-journey/) [Nigia Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigia-stephens/) > [Writing is the only thing I am good for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/writing-is-the-only-thing-i-am-good-for/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [It was relatively easy to write 'The Cave of Lost Souls', though, because it came to me one night in a dream. I remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kane/it-was-relatively-easy-to-write-the-cave-of-lost-souls-though-because/) [Paul Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kane/) > [“I wish i could write them down, these little coloured parables or poems that live for a moment in some cell of my brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-wish-i-could-write-them-down-these-little-coloured-parables-or/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The silver lining of those years when I was trying to get 'Tinkers' published but couldn't were the years when I had to decide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harding/the-silver-lining-of-those-years-when-i-was-trying-to-get-tinkers/) [Paul Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harding/) > [Reading and writing are the same thing; it's just one's the more active and the other's the more passive. They flow into each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/reading-and-writing-are-the-same-thing-it-s-just-one-s-the-more/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [But when it comes to writing the thing that I've sort of been thinking about lately, is why? You know, is it rational? Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/but-when-it-comes-to-writing-the-thing-that-i-ve-sort-of-been/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-jay/writing-is-the-only-thing-in-my-life-that-doesn-t-get-easier-it-just/) [Ricky Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-jay/) > [I spend so much time on the screen when I am writing, the last thing you want to do is spend more time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-spend-so-much-time-on-the-screen-when-i-am-writing-the-last-thing/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I never question the way I write. Writing is the only thing that's without seams for me. It's an effort to talk because my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-never-question-the-way-i-write-writing-is-the-only-thing-that-s/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) ## More by Mordecai Richler > [If you're writing a novel, you're in a room for three or four years. There's not much coming in from the outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/if-you-re-writing-a-novel-you-re-in-a-room-for-three-or-four-years/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Canada is one of the few places left where the small decencies are observed. If, as a young man, I was scornful of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/canada-is-one-of-the-few-places-left-where-the-small-decencies-are/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [I obviously prefer writing novels but I take my journalism very seriously, and I enjoy doing it between novels. It gives me an opportunity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/i-obviously-prefer-writing-novels-but-i-take-my-journalism-very/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [I work every day - or at least I force myself into office or room. I may get nothing done, but you don't earn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/i-work-every-day-or-at-least-i-force-myself-into-office-or-room-i-may/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [I'm world-famous ... all over Canada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/i-m-world-famous-all-over-canada/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Tomorrow country then, tomorrow country now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/tomorrow-country-then-tomorrow-country-now/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [My enduring feeling about René Lévesque is that if he had chosen to hang me, even as he tightened the rope round my neck,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/my-enduring-feeling-about-ren-l-vesque-is-that-if-he-had-chosen-to/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [The process hasn't changed, but the writer has developed. I still get up every morning and go to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/the-process-hasn-t-changed-but-the-writer-has-developed-i-still-get/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [The Canadian kid who wants to grow up to be Prime Minister isn't thinking big, he is setting a limit to his ambitions rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/the-canadian-kid-who-wants-to-grow-up-to-be-prime-minister-isn-t/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [When a child is born, I once explained to the kids, some dads lay down bottles of wine for them that will mature when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/when-a-child-is-born-i-once-explained-to-the-kids-some-dads-lay-down/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Some of the attitudes of Barney are certainly attitudes I share, but not all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/some-of-the-attitudes-of-barney-are-certainly-attitudes-i-share-but/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [The revolution eats its own. Capitalism re-creates itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/the-revolution-eats-its-own-capitalism-re-creates-itself/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Thousands of miles of wheat, indifference, and self- apology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/thousands-of-miles-of-wheat-indifference-and-self-apology/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Actually, when it comes to knocking the Canadian cultural scene, nobody outdoes Canadians, myself included. We are veritable masters of self-deprecation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/actually-when-it-comes-to-knocking-the-canadian-cultural-scene-nobody/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) > [Well, when I was a young writer the people we read were Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Sartre, Camus, Celine, Malraux. And to begin with, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/well-when-i-was-a-young-writer-the-people-we-read-were-hemingway/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) [Explore all 45 Mordecai Richler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) ## More Dying quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Just living my life till I die...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-mixer/just-living-my-life-till-i-die/) Willie Mixer > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [I don't want to just die a normal death, I wanna be killed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/i-don-t-want-to-just-die-a-normal-death-i-wanna-be-killed-twice/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [Poor David Hume is dying fast, but with more real cheerfulness and good humor and with more real resignation to the necessary course of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/poor-david-hume-is-dying-fast-but-with-more-real-cheerfulness-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/got-to-say-dying-would-really-wreck-my-best-day-been-there-done-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“There is more to living than not dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-is-more-to-living-than-not-dying/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I want people to think they can't die until they see me play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-williams/i-want-people-to-think-they-can-t-die-until-they-see-me-play/) [Ricky Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-williams/) > [... there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/there-are-far-far-worse-things-in-the-living-world-than-dying/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [Life has no guarantees, though. What good is living if all you think about is dying?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-garvis-graves/life-has-no-guarantees-though-what-good-is-living-if-all-you-think/) [Tracey Garvis-Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-garvis-graves/) > [“And if you can’t say yes, answer anyway. Because I’d rather live with the answer than die with the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ellis/and-if-you-can-t-say-yes-answer-anyway-because-i-d-rather-live-with/) Jon Ellis > [If you feel like you want to die, it's time to sit down and make a list of all the things you haven't done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/if-you-feel-like-you-want-to-die-it-s-time-to-sit-down-and-make-a/) [Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) Browse all 6,374 Dying quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mordecai Richler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-same-thing-it-s-about-dying/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dying" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-same-thing-it-s-about-dying/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/mordecai-richler-13361_dying_fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-s_2525361.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we…” — Mordecai Richler", "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": "Mordecai Richler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fundamentally, all writing is about the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-same-thing-it-s-about-dying/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/fundamentally-all-writing-is-about-the-same-thing-it-s-about-dying/#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 } } ] } ```