--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Metaphysics notwithstanding, I also…" description: "\"Metaphysics notwithstanding, I also insert myself in my fictions for no loftier purpose than to give me pleasure: to see myself performing onstage.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/norman-lock-21222_fiction_metaphysics-notwithstanding-i-also-inser_2630091.jpg" --- # Metaphysics notwithstanding, I also insert myself in my… ![“Metaphysics notwithstanding, I also insert myself in my fictions for no loftier purpose than to give me pleasure: to see myself performing onstage.” quote by Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/norman-lock-21222_fiction_metaphysics-notwithstanding-i-also-inser_2630091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/norman-lock-21222_fiction_metaphysics-notwithstanding-i-also-inser_2630091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/norman-lock-21222_fiction_metaphysics-notwithstanding-i-also-inser_2630091.jpg) > “Metaphysics notwithstanding, I also insert myself in my fictions for no loftier purpose than to give me pleasure: to see myself performing onstage.” [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inserting oneself into fiction serves personal pleasure and self‑exploration onstage. **In simple terms:** Writing about oneself can be enjoyable. Key Takeaway Use self‑insertion to explore identity. Themes self‑exploration pleasure fiction performance identity Mood introspective playful Type creative analytical When to use this quote - writing workshops - role‑play - personal essays Key Concepts literary technique psychology creative expression Questions to Reflect On - Why write about yourself? - How does performance affect self‑knowledge? A Different Perspective Risk of narcissism or self‑indulgence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Give me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-me/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Insert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insert/) [Metaphysics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysics/) [Onstage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/onstage/) [Performing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performing/) [Performing Onstage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performing-onstage-1245881/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Performing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-performing-2183158/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Purpose Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-pleasure-2183159/) ## Related quotes > [I have a lot of experience in the studio, performing onstage, talking to an audience. I learned most of that stuff when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skylar-grey/i-have-a-lot-of-experience-in-the-studio-performing-onstage-talking/) [Skylar Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skylar-grey/) > [It's hard for a person to try to keep his stuff together being nominated for something and then performing onstage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juicy-j/it-s-hard-for-a-person-to-try-to-keep-his-stuff-together-being/) [Juicy J](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juicy-j/) > [Performing onstage is all about reacting in a grand way. You're playing an arena of seventeen or eighteen thousand people and it's your job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-timberlake/performing-onstage-is-all-about-reacting-in-a-grand-way-you-re/) [Justin Timberlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-timberlake/) > [Being in a recording studio is a very different feel from performing onstage. 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I don't write electronically, either - except e-mails to my family and friends. I write in longhand. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/i-don-t-read-anything-electronically-i-don-t-write-electronically/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Small towns and local publications love to have a hero of some kind. For Portland, it's definitely Ian Karmel and Ron Funches, but every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-miller/small-towns-and-local-publications-love-to-have-a-hero-of-some-kind/) [Amy Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-miller/) > [My brothers and sisters and I spoke in a language called Egg Latin. In the early '50s in Canada, this became a fad way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hartman/my-brothers-and-sisters-and-i-spoke-in-a-language-called-egg-latin-in/) [Phil Hartman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hartman/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More by Norman Lock > [I admitted that I did not understand life. What I meant was that I am bewildered by human hearts and motivations, including my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-admitted-that-i-did-not-understand-life-what-i-meant-was-that-i-am/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I had hoped to be a poet, and for a long time I tried to write poetry. My first published pieces were poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-had-hoped-to-be-a-poet-and-for-a-long-time-i-tried-to-write-poetry/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Each piece of writing I undertake, whether a story, novel, play, or poem, begins with an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/each-piece-of-writing-i-undertake-whether-a-story-novel-play-or-poem/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I very much like the idea of the unreliable narrator. 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My inclination to adopt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/theatre-aside-my-penchant-for-the-extended-monologue-began-with-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [In nearly everything I write, I am like a ventriloquist, throwing my voice into my characters, animating them by the slightest twitch as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/in-nearly-everything-i-write-i-am-like-a-ventriloquist-throwing-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Emotional, physical, and spiritual estrangement and ontological and religious doubt inform my personality, my thoughts, and my characters, which are, more often than not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/emotional-physical-and-spiritual-estrangement-and-ontological-and/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Many of my short fictions use theatre as a metaphor for situations in which characters find themselves estranged from the larger, uncontrollable world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/many-of-my-short-fictions-use-theatre-as-a-metaphor-for-situations-in/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I used to teach writing in a federal prison, and for my students' benefit, I would liken the narrative use of this highly personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-used-to-teach-writing-in-a-federal-prison-and-for-my-students/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I haven't the stature to critique one of our literature's great novels, Tobias; and I'm not one of those who believe The Adventures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-haven-t-the-stature-to-critique-one-of-our-literature-s-great/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) [Explore all 29 Norman Lock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [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 love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. 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