--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I…" description: "\"I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.\" — Padgett Powell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png" --- # I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that… ![“I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.” quote by Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png) > “I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.” [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker acknowledges an inner calling to write, recognizing it as a deep, personal conviction. **In simple terms:** I felt meant to write. Key Takeaway Listen to your inner voice. Themes identity creativity calling Mood reflective determined Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - career decision - personal journaling - creative projects Key Concepts self‑realization purpose artistic drive Questions to Reflect On - What does your inner calling demand? - How can you honor it publicly? A Different Perspective The declaration may be private, limiting external support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Declaration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/declaration/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [every word calls up far more of a picture than its actual meaning is supposed to do, and the writer has to deal with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/every-word-calls-up-far-more-of-a-picture-than-its-actual-meaning-is/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [“I knew how I was supposed to feel when I was with him. Well, I knew what I was not supposed to feel. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-miranda/i-knew-how-i-was-supposed-to-feel-when-i-was-with-him-well-i-knew/) [Megan Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-miranda/) > [The simple fact was that if the song wasn't about me, I couldn't see how it could possibly be about anybody else, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/the-simple-fact-was-that-if-the-song-wasn-t-about-me-i-couldn-t-see/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [“I wish I knew how one is supposed to live. I wish somebody had taught me. Why do people we take for authorities when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-de-loo/i-wish-i-knew-how-one-is-supposed-to-live-i-wish-somebody-had-taught/) [Tessa de Loo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-de-loo/) > [I think subconsciously or selfishly I knew that I was supposed to do something. It was like a thumping or a throbbing saying, "Yes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vernon/i-think-subconsciously-or-selfishly-i-knew-that-i-was-supposed-to-do/) [Justin Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vernon/) > [I just look back at my entire life. You know, my faith. I knew that I was where I was supposed to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabo-swinney/i-just-look-back-at-my-entire-life-you-know-my-faith-i-knew-that-i/) [Dabo Swinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabo-swinney/) > [“I didn’t know what to do. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what I was supposed to do. But I didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-alexi-genao/i-didn-t-know-what-to-do-i-knew-what-i-wanted-to-do-i-knew-what-i-was/) [Julio-Alexi Genao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-alexi-genao/) > [People dance and we have a lot of music and... this might be the closet I get for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-crowe/people-dance-and-we-have-a-lot-of-music-and-this-might-be-the-closet/) [Cameron Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-crowe/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [I feel like I've been shut in a closet, and he's on the other side, and he doesn't have the key to unlock the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/i-feel-like-i-ve-been-shut-in-a-closet-and-he-s-on-the-other-side-and/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [I used it in a shot where Richard Burton goes down the hall to get a gun in a closet. And I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haskell-wexler/i-used-it-in-a-shot-where-richard-burton-goes-down-the-hall-to-get-a/) [Haskell Wexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haskell-wexler/) > [But what struck me was the book-madness of the place--books lay scattered across the unmade bed and the top of a battered-looking desk, books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/but-what-struck-me-was-the-book-madness-of-the-place-books-lay/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [I own about 300 pairs of shoes. When I start to go over 300, I have mini-sales from my closet and give the money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/i-own-about-300-pairs-of-shoes-when-i-start-to-go-over-300-i-have/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) > [I always sleep on my own. I can't sleep with somebody else. Always separate bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. I'm very individual and I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-tonioli/i-always-sleep-on-my-own-i-can-t-sleep-with-somebody-else-always/) [Bruno Tonioli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-tonioli/) > [We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-milk/we-will-not-win-our-rights-by-staying-quietly-in-our-closets/) [Harvey Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-milk/) ## More by Padgett Powell > [If you could have a famous writer, dead or alive, write an obituary for you and really puff you up to have been something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/if-you-could-have-a-famous-writer-dead-or-alive-write-an-obituary-for/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [That's part of fiction, creating a world better than the one you live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/that-s-part-of-fiction-creating-a-world-better-than-the-one-you-live/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [I don't know any more about America than one knows being trapped in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-don-t-know-any-more-about-america-than-one-knows-being-trapped-in-it/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [I've had an addiction for a long time to the whole business of maximizing one's potential, what I call human activation. The vehicle for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-ve-had-an-addiction-for-a-long-time-to-the-whole-business-of/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“the zombies, after all, were pretty slow to appreciate someone other than themselves, and they had been schooled not to denigrate the different. --Mrs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/the-zombies-after-all-were-pretty-slow-to-appreciate-someone-other/) [padgett powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [Even if you're the worst writer in the world, at least you'll have the evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/even-if-you-re-the-worst-writer-in-the-world-at-least-you-ll-have-the/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“don't hesitate to insulate your house, especially the floor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/don-t-hesitate-to-insulate-your-house-especially-the-floor/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“ease up. the day was rued when we came upon it, or when it came upon us, and beheld us marring the horizon, sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/ease-up-the-day-was-rued-when-we-came-upon-it-or-when-it-came-upon-us/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“apply shingles from the bottom up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/apply-shingles-from-the-bottom-up/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [Life is a sandwich of activity between two periods of bed-wetting,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/life-is-a-sandwich-of-activity-between-two-periods-of-bed-wetting/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“Now she understood a few things: that the American academy, which one might have thought the place to defend freedom of speech, had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/now-she-understood-a-few-things-that-the-american-academy-which-one/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“A whole section of the family tree is pruned and primped and assessed as I politely sit there. Overall, I detect that the tree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/a-whole-section-of-the-family-tree-is-pruned-and-primped-and-assessed/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [Have you come over time to think that you know more now than you did when you were young, know less now than when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/have-you-come-over-time-to-think-that-you-know-more-now-than-you-did/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [Cholesterol to go with alcohol; all the bad things in English-speaking life end in -ol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/cholesterol-to-go-with-alcohol-all-the-bad-things-in-english-speaking/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“She thought it funny how the poor environment had been raped just fine until there was a sufficient excess of the people who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/she-thought-it-funny-how-the-poor-environment-had-been-raped-just/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) [Explore all 47 Padgett Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) ## More Closets quotes > [I always sleep on my own. I can't sleep with somebody else. Always separate bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. I'm very individual and I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-tonioli/i-always-sleep-on-my-own-i-can-t-sleep-with-somebody-else-always/) [Bruno Tonioli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-tonioli/) > [I own about 300 pairs of shoes. When I start to go over 300, I have mini-sales from my closet and give the money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/i-own-about-300-pairs-of-shoes-when-i-start-to-go-over-300-i-have/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) > [But what struck me was the book-madness of the place--books lay scattered across the unmade bed and the top of a battered-looking desk, books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/but-what-struck-me-was-the-book-madness-of-the-place-books-lay/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [I used it in a shot where Richard Burton goes down the hall to get a gun in a closet. And I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haskell-wexler/i-used-it-in-a-shot-where-richard-burton-goes-down-the-hall-to-get-a/) [Haskell Wexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haskell-wexler/) > [I feel like I've been shut in a closet, and he's on the other side, and he doesn't have the key to unlock the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/i-feel-like-i-ve-been-shut-in-a-closet-and-he-s-on-the-other-side-and/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [People dance and we have a lot of music and... this might be the closet I get for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-crowe/people-dance-and-we-have-a-lot-of-music-and-this-might-be-the-closet/) [Cameron Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-crowe/) > [We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-milk/we-will-not-win-our-rights-by-staying-quietly-in-our-closets/) [Harvey Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-milk/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Friends are readily disappointed by the size of my closet. And I thought it was big!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/friends-are-readily-disappointed-by-the-size-of-my-closet-and-i/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [All of my life, actually, I had a real strong relationship with God, but I was always in the closet about it. The only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinead-o-connor/all-of-my-life-actually-i-had-a-real-strong-relationship-with-god-but/) [Sinead O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinead-o-connor/) > [SM is an art. Doing it well requires more than a bag full of expensive whips and exotic electrical toys, a closet full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sm-is-an-art-doing-it-well-requires-more-than-a-bag-full-of-expensive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Weddings seem to be magnets for mishap and for whatever craziness lurks in family closets. In more ways than one, weddings bring out the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/weddings-seem-to-be-magnets-for-mishap-and-for-whatever-craziness/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [Twenty-eight years ago, I created my first game on an Apple II in my bedroom closet at a time when the interactive entertainment industry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-garriott/twenty-eight-years-ago-i-created-my-first-game-on-an-apple-ii-in-my/) [Richard Garriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-garriott/) > [That holy, humble, meek, modest, retiring Form, sometimes called the Spirit of Prayer, has been dragged from the closet, and so rudely handled by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asahel-nettleton/that-holy-humble-meek-modest-retiring-form-sometimes-called-the/) [Asahel Nettleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asahel-nettleton/) > [No one is ignorant that our character and turn of mind are intimately connected with the water-closet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/no-one-is-ignorant-that-our-character-and-turn-of-mind-are-intimately/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) Browse all 594 Closets quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Padgett Powell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-had-made-that-declaration-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Closets" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-had-made-that-declaration-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/padgett-powell-14196_closets_i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-h_485697.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.” — Padgett Powell", "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": "Padgett Powell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I knew I was supposed to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-had-made-that-declaration-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-knew-i-was-supposed-to-be-a-writer-i-had-made-that-declaration-in/#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 } } ] } ```