--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writers themselves don't analyze what…" description: "\"Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a tightrope.\" — Nadine Gordimer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg" --- # Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze… ![“Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a tightrope.” quote by Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg) > “Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a tightrope.” [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. Writers often act instinctively; over‑analysis can hinder creativity, like looking down while on a tightrope. **In simple terms:** Writers shouldn't over‑think their work. Key Takeaway Balance intuition with reflection. Themes creativity analysis risk Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - performance art - public speaking Key Concepts intuition self‑awareness artistic process Questions to Reflect On - When does reflection become a hindrance? - How can artists stay present while evaluating? A Different Perspective Too much analysis can cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Analyze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analyze/) [Canyon Tightrope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canyon-tightrope-5929829/) [Canyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canyons/) [Crossing Canyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossing-canyon-5929830/) [Crossings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossings/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Don](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-don/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Perhaps there is no other way of reaching some understanding of being than through art? Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/perhaps-there-is-no-other-way-of-reaching-some-understanding-of-being/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Many children's writers don't have children of their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/many-children-s-writers-don-t-have-children-of-their-own/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [Writers don't have to keep themselves honest. They have to keep themselves accurate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/writers-don-t-have-to-keep-themselves-honest-they-have-to-keep/) [John Metcalf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-metcalf/) > [Writers don't want to appear to be stupid. I don't know - maybe people become writers so that they can prove that they're not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/writers-don-t-want-to-appear-to-be-stupid-i-don-t-know-maybe-people/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [“Do the books that writers don't write matter? It's easy to forget them, to assume that the apocryphal bibliography must contain nothing but bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/do-the-books-that-writers-don-t-write-matter-it-s-easy-to-forget-them/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [New writers don't throw tantrums, they have time. I can make them work on one song for a week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-roshan/new-writers-don-t-throw-tantrums-they-have-time-i-can-make-them-work/) [Rajesh Roshan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-roshan/) > [We choose to be writers because we don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-choose-to-be-writers-because-we-don-t-want-to-talk/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I've found that writers who don't read really can't write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/i-ve-found-that-writers-who-don-t-read-really-can-t-write/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [There's not much to be said about the period except that most writers don't reach it soon enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/there-s-not-much-to-be-said-about-the-period-except-that-most-writers/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give your whole life to it. Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/the-only-advice-i-can-give-to-aspiring-writers-is-don-t-do-it-unless/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [Writers, most of them, don't have a lot of resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/writers-most-of-them-don-t-have-a-lot-of-resources/) [Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/) > [Canadian writers don't live in gated mansions; you can just talk to them when you see them lining up at the Second Cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/canadian-writers-don-t-live-in-gated-mansions-you-can-just-talk-to/) [Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/) > [I very much like people. I don't much like writers who don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-shepard/i-very-much-like-people-i-don-t-much-like-writers-who-don-t/) [Jim Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-shepard/) > [I think that if writers don't speak about real life, it's because they don't know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-think-that-if-writers-don-t-speak-about-real-life-it-s-because-they/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“Personal trainers and writers don't end up in history books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caspar-vega/personal-trainers-and-writers-don-t-end-up-in-history-books/) [Caspar Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caspar-vega/) ## 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 Analyze quotes > [We look at the world and analyze the world, and see what we can do that is in line of our mutual interest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-macapagal-arroyo/we-look-at-the-world-and-analyze-the-world-and-see-what-we-can-do/) [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-macapagal-arroyo/) > ['Life's That Way' was an extraordinarily difficult book to write, because it wasn't written as a book. It was written as a journal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-beaver/life-s-that-way-was-an-extraordinarily-difficult-book-to-write/) [Jim Beaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-beaver/) > [My job is to analyze our data set to understand it and build products on it. I look at raw data, do the math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/my-job-is-to-analyze-our-data-set-to-understand-it-and-build-products/) [Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/) > [Love does not analyze its object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/love-does-not-analyze-its-object/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When I make a movie, I don't break it down and analyze it. I could but it would get in the way of doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viggo-mortensen/when-i-make-a-movie-i-don-t-break-it-down-and-analyze-it-i-could-but/) [Viggo Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viggo-mortensen/) > [I have made sense of my life by developing an ability to analyze Mainstream American Cultural Artifacts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-s-trow/i-have-made-sense-of-my-life-by-developing-an-ability-to-analyze/) [George W. S. Trow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-s-trow/) > [You have to be able to analyze yourself and critique yourself from every which way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scherzer/you-have-to-be-able-to-analyze-yourself-and-critique-yourself-from/) [Max Scherzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scherzer/) > [“Understand more. Analyze less.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-truong/understand-more-analyze-less/) [Brian Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-truong/) > [I never analyze it. Analyzing it would just be a waste of time. I just go out and do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/i-never-analyze-it-analyzing-it-would-just-be-a-waste-of-time-i-just/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [War is not a petri dish to examine and analyze our emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/war-is-not-a-petri-dish-to-examine-and-analyze-our-emotions/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [Most executives, many scientists, and almost all business school graduates believe that if you analyze data, this will give you new ideas. Unfortunately, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-de-bono/most-executives-many-scientists-and-almost-all-business-school/) [Edward de Bono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-de-bono/) > [In actual fact, I've never been one, even from childhood, to kind of analyze myself very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-bacall/in-actual-fact-i-ve-never-been-one-even-from-childhood-to-kind-of/) [Lauren Bacall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-bacall/) > [A short story is something that you can hold in your mind. You can really analyze how the entire thing works, like a machine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/a-short-story-is-something-that-you-can-hold-in-your-mind-you-can/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I watch a lot of games and analyze a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-howland/i-watch-a-lot-of-games-and-analyze-a-lot/) [Ben Howland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-howland/) > [“The best way to analyze anyone consists in mirroring their behaviors and words, as when you do it they reveal their real intentions. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/the-best-way-to-analyze-anyone-consists-in-mirroring-their-behaviors/) [Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/) [Browse all 129 Analyze quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analyze/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a tightrope.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nadine Gordimer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-they-do-to-analyze-would-be-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Analyze" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-they-do-to-analyze-would-be-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/nadine-gordimer-3358_canyons_writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-th_1573896.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a…” — 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": "Writers themselves don't analyze what they...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-they-do-to-analyze-would-be-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/writers-themselves-don-t-analyze-what-they-do-to-analyze-would-be-to/#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 } } ] } ```