--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps the best way to write is to do so…" description: "\"Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were already dead, afraid of no one's reactions, answerable to no one's views.\" — Nadine Gordimer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg" --- # Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were… ![“Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were already dead, afraid of no one's reactions, answerable to no one's views.” quote by Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg) > “Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were already dead, afraid of no one's reactions, answerable to no one's views.” [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Write as if already dead, free from fear of judgment and external expectations, to achieve true authenticity. **In simple terms:** Write without fear of others' opinions. Key Takeaway Embrace fearless, authentic expression. Themes freedom authenticity mortality Mood reflective liberating Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - personal essays - artistic liberation Key Concepts existentialism literature Questions to Reflect On - How does fear shape your writing? - What does writing without judgment feel like? A Different Perspective Ignoring audience can limit relevance and connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-way/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“...poets generally write as if they were dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/poets-generally-write-as-if-they-were-dead/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [To write what is not dead on the page, one has to be open to all kinds of disturbances and challenges and confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/to-write-what-is-not-dead-on-the-page-one-has-to-be-open-to-all-kinds/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [What I am saying, I suppose, is that you write as if everyone is dead. Then you face the music. I don't know any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-freed/what-i-am-saying-i-suppose-is-that-you-write-as-if-everyone-is-dead/) [Lynn Freed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-freed/) > [I hate writing. I will do anything to avoid it. The only way I could write less was if I was dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-hate-writing-i-will-do-anything-to-avoid-it-the-only-way-i-could/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [“Why don’t you just pretend that the asshole dropped dead? You can’t call or write to a dead man. Put a couple of candles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-lopez/why-don-t-you-just-pretend-that-the-asshole-dropped-dead-you-can-t/) [Isabel Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-lopez/) > [“First learn to write as if you were already dead and then you will learn to write as if you were still alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-tucci/first-learn-to-write-as-if-you-were-already-dead-and-then-you-will/) Niccolo Tucci > [I played a lot of tough clubs in my time. Once a guy in one of those clubs wanted to bet me $10 that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/i-played-a-lot-of-tough-clubs-in-my-time-once-a-guy-in-one-of-those/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [I think you know that when an American stays away from New York too long something happens to him. 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I was afraid to bet him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/a-tough-guy-told-me-i-ll-bet-you-10-you-re-dead-i-was-afraid-to-bet/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [The best way to hold customers is to constantly figure out how to give them more for less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kotler/the-best-way-to-hold-customers-is-to-constantly-figure-out-how-to/) [Philip Kotler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kotler/) > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) ## More by Nadine Gordimer > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The facts are always less than what really happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-facts-are-always-less-than-what-really-happened/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death's the discarder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-s-the-discarder/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It was a miracle; it was all a miracle: and one ought to have known, from the sufferings of saints, that miracles are horror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/it-was-a-miracle-it-was-all-a-miracle-and-one-ought-to-have-known/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Mostly I'm interviewed by white people, and identified with white society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/mostly-i-m-interviewed-by-white-people-and-identified-with-white/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“I would be guilty only if I were innocent of working to destroy racism in my country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-would-be-guilty-only-if-i-were-innocent-of-working-to-destroy/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death is really the mystery of life, isn't it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-is-really-the-mystery-of-life-isn-t-it/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sincerity is never having an idea of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sincerity-is-never-having-an-idea-of-oneself/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“you like to have some cup of tea?-July bent at the doorway and began that day for them as his kind has always done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/you-like-to-have-some-cup-of-tea-july-bent-at-the-doorway-and-began/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Afrikaner women are lower than rats, closer related to plants, just fit enough to be raped in an act of genus preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/afrikaner-women-are-lower-than-rats-closer-related-to-plants-just-fit/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The country of the tourist pamphlet always is another country, an embarrassing abstraction of the desirable that, thank God, does not exist on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-country-of-the-tourist-pamphlet-always-is-another-country-an/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Well, you know, in the fundamentalist milieu of the Afrikaners, there was a sense that they were a chosen people, that they were bringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/well-you-know-in-the-fundamentalist-milieu-of-the-afrikaners-there/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sentiment is for those who don't know what to do next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sentiment-is-for-those-who-don-t-know-what-to-do-next/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Success sometimes may be defined as a disaster put on hold. Qualified. Has to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/success-sometimes-may-be-defined-as-a-disaster-put-on-hold-qualified/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) [Explore all 131 Nadine Gordimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## More Afraid quotes > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [“Carrie Fisher. “Stay afraid, but do it anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-union/carrie-fisher-stay-afraid-but-do-it-anyway/) [Gabrielle Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-union/) > [I used to be afraid of my temper, but it turns out I don't really have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-bell/i-used-to-be-afraid-of-my-temper-but-it-turns-out-i-don-t-really-have/) [Zoe Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-bell/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I'm a pretty fearless person. I'm afraid of, like, creepy men in white vans and sidewalks with no streetlights. But I'm not afraid to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-totah/i-m-a-pretty-fearless-person-i-m-afraid-of-like-creepy-men-in-white/) [Josie Totah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-totah/) > [I will support my party when they are right on an issue, but am not afraid to stand up to party bosses who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-senger/i-will-support-my-party-when-they-are-right-on-an-issue-but-am-not/) Darlene Senger > [Why am I so afraid to loose you,when you're not even mine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-am-i-so-afraid-to-loose-you-when-you-re-not-even-mine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I want to tell you, but I cant, becuase I'm afraid if I do you'll never treat me same the again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-orante/i-want-to-tell-you-but-i-cant-becuase-i-m-afraid-if-i-do-you-ll-never/) [Cristina Orante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-orante/) > [Mistakes I've made in the past make me afraid to try new things in the future. I want to be perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/mistakes-i-ve-made-in-the-past-make-me-afraid-to-try-new-things-in/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [“Humans are naturally scared and confused beings. They not only fear the unknown, as they live fearing themselves... ☥”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-marques/humans-are-naturally-scared-and-confused-beings-they-not-only-fear/) [Luis Marques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-marques/) > [If you are too afraid of failure, you cant possibly do what needs to be done to succeed in living a fulfilling life. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/if-you-are-too-afraid-of-failure-you-cant-possibly-do-what-needs-to/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [We cannot be afraid of the dark that they live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burnie-burns/we-cannot-be-afraid-of-the-dark-that-they-live-in/) [Burnie Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burnie-burns/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I'm still with that feeling that I am afraid of doing the wrong thing, because somebody is going to punish me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/i-m-still-with-that-feeling-that-i-am-afraid-of-doing-the-wrong-thing/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) Browse all 5,519 Afraid quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were already dead, afraid of no one's reactions, answerable to no one's views.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nadine Gordimer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-so-as-if-one-were-already-dead/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Afraid" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-so-as-if-one-were-already-dead/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/nadine-gordimer-3358_best-way_perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-s_933829.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perhaps the best way to write is to do so as if one were already dead, afraid of no one's reactions…” — Nadine Gordimer", "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": "Nadine Gordimer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Perhaps the best way to write...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-so-as-if-one-were-already-dead/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/perhaps-the-best-way-to-write-is-to-do-so-as-if-one-were-already-dead/#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 } } ] } ```