--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forgive my asking you to use your mind…" description: "\"“Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...”\" — Owen Wister" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/owen-wister-21300_books_forgive-my-asking-you-to-use-your-mind-i_1101936.jpg" --- # Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing… ![“Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...” quote by Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/owen-wister-21300_books_forgive-my-asking-you-to-use-your-mind-i_1101936.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/owen-wister-21300_books_forgive-my-asking-you-to-use-your-mind-i_1101936.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/owen-wister-21300_books_forgive-my-asking-you-to-use-your-mind-i_1101936.jpg) > ““Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...”” [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authors should not demand readers to think deeply; literature often offers escapism rather than intellectual challenge. **In simple terms:** Novels need not force deep thought. Key Takeaway Enjoy reading without pressure. Themes literature reader expectations intellectual demand Mood contemplative neutral Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - leisure reading - academic study - book clubs Key Concepts narrative immersion critical reading Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer thought‑provoking or relaxing reads? - How does authorial intent affect your experience? A Different Perspective Some readers seek intellectual engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Expect Reader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expect-reader-2891878/) [Forgive Asking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgive-asking-2891877/) [Humorous-quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorous-quotes/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Novelist Expect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist-expect-2891875/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thing Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-novelist-2891876/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers and writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-and-writing/) [Writers-on-writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-on-writing/) [Writers-quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-quotes/) ## Related quotes > [The great thing about being a novelist is that you organize your own day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/the-great-thing-about-being-a-novelist-is-that-you-organize-your-own/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [“This is … this is nothing. 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I am not afraid anymore, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/i-used-to-be-afraid-about-what-people-might-say-or-think-after/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“I have written until I fell asleep with my computer on my lap. That can't be normal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-hall/i-have-written-until-i-fell-asleep-with-my-computer-on-my-lap-that/) [Christy Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-hall/) > [“I prefer to be on the side of losers, the misunderstood or lonely people rather than writing about the strong and powerful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-ria-a/i-prefer-to-be-on-the-side-of-losers-the-misunderstood-or-lonely/) [Núria Añó](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-ria-a/) > [“Coffee, my delight of the morning; yoga, my delight of the noon. Then before nightfall, I run along the pleasant paths of the Jardin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/coffee-my-delight-of-the-morning-yoga-my-delight-of-the-noon-then/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [“Hey Revision. You can be a pain but you do make Book better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffy-andrews/hey-revision-you-can-be-a-pain-but-you-do-make-book-better/) [Buffy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffy-andrews/) ## More by Owen Wister > [“It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal inequality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/it-was-through-the-declaration-of-independence-that-we-americans/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [I reckon some parsons have a right to tell yu' to be good. The bishop of this hyeh Territory has a right. But I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/i-reckon-some-parsons-have-a-right-to-tell-yu-to-be-good-the-bishop/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“All America is divided into two classes - the quality and the equality. The latter will always recognize the former when mistaken for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/all-america-is-divided-into-two-classes-the-quality-and-the-equality/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“Here in flesh and blood was a truth which I had long believed in words, but never met before. 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I always smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/with-a-gun-against-my-belly-i-i-always-smile/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“Providence makes use of instruments I'd not touch with a ten-foot pole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/providence-makes-use-of-instruments-i-d-not-touch-with-a-ten-foot-pole/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [An aristocrat in morals as in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/an-aristocrat-in-morals-as-in-mind/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“He possessed that quality in his profanity of not offending by it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/he-possessed-that-quality-in-his-profanity-of-not-offending-by-it/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“When a man ain't got no ideas of his own," said Scipio, "he'd ought to be kind o' careful who he borrows 'em from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/when-a-man-ain-t-got-no-ideas-of-his-own-said-scipio-he-d-ought-to-be/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal quality of man. 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Said Plato unto Aristotle, 'Thank you, I prefer the bottle.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/said-aristotle-unto-plato-have-another-sweet-potato-said-plato-unto/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) [Explore all 29 Owen Wister quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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