--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For me writing is like breathing. I could…" description: "\"For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.\" — Pablo Neruda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/pablo-neruda-435_breathing_for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could_11552.jpg" --- # For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without… ![“For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/pablo-neruda-435_breathing_for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could_11552.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/pablo-neruda-435_breathing_for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could_11552.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/pablo-neruda-435_breathing_for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could_11552.jpg) > “For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.” [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is an essential, life-sustaining activity for the author, as vital as breathing. **In simple terms:** Writing is a vital necessity. Key Takeaway Writing is as essential as breathing. Themes creativity necessity self-expression passion identity Mood passionate determined introspective Type personal aphor statement When to use this quote - author reflecting on craft - artist describing inspiration - writer facing block - person emphasizing habit - individual comparing needs Key Concepts writing breathing life necessity Practical Applications - motivational speaking for writers - creative writing workshops Questions to Reflect On - Why do some people view writing as a necessity? - How does equating writing with breathing affect one's discipline? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Writing is like breathing, it's possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/writing-is-like-breathing-it-s-possible-to-learn-to-do-it-well-but/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [“writing was like breathing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/writing-was-like-breathing/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Writing is like breathing underwater. It's really hard to do unless you can imagine yourself a nice set of gills.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alane-adams/writing-is-like-breathing-underwater-it-s-really-hard-to-do-unless/) Alane Adams > [Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-allyn/reading-is-like-breathing-in-writing-is-like-breathing-out/) [Pam Allyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-allyn/) > [“If reading is like breathing then writing is like the beat of a heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-holford-green/if-reading-is-like-breathing-then-writing-is-like-the-beat-of-a-heart/) Laura Holford-Green > [“Writing is like breathing -- it is necessary for my survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-c-hillstrom/writing-is-like-breathing-it-is-necessary-for-my-survival/) [Michelle C. Hillstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-c-hillstrom/) > [“But writing is like breathing--I do it because I have to. Actually, writing might be more like reading--I do it because I can't imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-frost/but-writing-is-like-breathing-i-do-it-because-i-have-to-actually/) Heather Frost > [Your true passion should feel like breathing; it’s that natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/your-true-passion-should-feel-like-breathing-it-s-that-natural/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [Working safely is like breathing - if you don't, you die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-smith/working-safely-is-like-breathing-if-you-don-t-you-die/) [Jerry Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-smith/) > [Responsibility is something you take as a matter of fact, like breathing air; living without it is impossible, but do not think about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-gelt-dekker/responsibility-is-something-you-take-as-a-matter-of-fact-like/) [Jacob Gelt Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-gelt-dekker/) > [Traveling isn't something you're good at. It's something you do. Like breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/traveling-isn-t-something-you-re-good-at-it-s-something-you-do-like/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [The point is to get a good rhythm, to make it mindless, almost as a daydream. To walk like breathing. To make it what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-point-is-to-get-a-good-rhythm-to-make-it-mindless-almost-as-a/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [A lot of people can't stand touring but to me it's like breathing. I do it because I'm driven to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/a-lot-of-people-can-t-stand-touring-but-to-me-it-s-like-breathing-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“Anyone else feel like that? Like your life's a big act. Like you're trying to be a man when you're just a scared kid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/anyone-else-feel-like-that-like-your-life-s-a-big-act-like-you-re/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/eating-and-sleeping-are-not-like-loving-and-breathing-washing-is-not/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More by Pablo Neruda > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Our love was born outside the walls, in the wind, in the night, in the earth, and that's why the clay and the flower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/our-love-was-born-outside-the-walls-in-the-wind-in-the-night-in-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I remember only a day that was perhaps never intended for me, it was an incessant day, without origins, Thursday. I was a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-remember-only-a-day-that-was-perhaps-never-intended-for-me-it-was/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We had, as men, time So our thirst could slowly be satisfied, the ancestral longing to enumerate things and sum them up, to render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-had-as-men-time-so-our-thirst-could-slowly-be-satisfied-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-don-t-know-who-it-is-who-lives-or-dies-who-rests-or-wakes-but-it-is/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-open-the-halves-of-a-miracle-and-a-clotting-of-acids-brims-into/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/take-bread-away-from-me-if-you-wish-take-air-away-but-do-not-take/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Perhaps the earth can teach us As when everything seems dead And later proves to be alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/perhaps-the-earth-can-teach-us-as-when-everything-seems-dead-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I am no longer in love with her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-am-no-longer-in-love-with-her-that-s-certain-but-maybe-i-love-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying-2/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“ I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are absent And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-like-for-you-to-be-still-i-like-for-you-to-be-still-it-is-as-though/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Tonight I Can Write”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/tonight-i-can-write/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Like a jar you housed infinite tenderness And the infinite tenderness shattered you like a jar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/like-a-jar-you-housed-infinite-tenderness-and-the-infinite-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) [Explore all 457 Pablo Neruda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More Breathing quotes > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [“As long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to start over and build a stable future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ha-campbell/as-long-as-we-re-breathing-we-have-a-chance-to-start-over-and-build-a/) [Kim Ha Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ha-campbell/) > [People don't think much about breathing. Of all the things we take for granted, breathing has to be number one - even though it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/people-don-t-think-much-about-breathing-of-all-the-things-we-take-for/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [I wish," Jared began, and stopped, breathing in. "Do you remember how you used to believe I wasn't real? Sometimes I wish that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/i-wish-jared-began-and-stopped-breathing-in-do-you-remember-how-you/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [Breathing is give(carbon dioxide) and take(oxygen), such is life, find balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-williams/breathing-is-give-carbon-dioxide-and-take-oxygen-such-is-life-find/) Marcel Williams > [I'll probably be writing as long as I'm breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kristofferson/i-ll-probably-be-writing-as-long-as-i-m-breathing/) [Kris Kristofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kristofferson/) > [I’m in, Cat. I’d never leave you. Especially when you’ve got death breathing down your neck.” “Very funny,” I retorted, since Bones was inches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/i-m-in-cat-i-d-never-leave-you-especially-when-you-ve-got-death/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [Splutter, splutter. Yes - we're off - we're rising. But why start off with an engine like that? But it smooths out now, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/splutter-splutter-yes-we-re-off-we-re-rising-but-why-start-off-with/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [He’d moved toward me again. His hands released mine and moved to my waist, and I noticed I wasn’t the only one breathing heavily.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/he-d-moved-toward-me-again-his-hands-released-mine-and-moved-to-my/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-fleming/my-worry-is-that-opera-will-become-an-historic-art-form-as-opposed-to/) [Renee Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-fleming/) > [I'm really fascinated and you know I've been wondering about that usage of language, various breathing techniques and why in these practices language is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/i-m-really-fascinated-and-you-know-i-ve-been-wondering-about-that/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [I’m exactly right for you, Bella. It would have been effortless for us — comfortable, easy as breathing. I was the natural path your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/i-m-exactly-right-for-you-bella-it-would-have-been-effortless-for-us/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [If I'm on a boat I will wave to every breathing thing I pass. If I'm not on a boat I try to avoid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-manzo/if-i-m-on-a-boat-i-will-wave-to-every-breathing-thing-i-pass-if-i-m/) [Caroline Manzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-manzo/) [Browse all 1,666 Breathing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For me writing is like breathing. 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