--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The ambivalence of writing is such that…" description: "\"The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a1/paul-de-man-32598_ambivalence_the-ambivalence-of-writing-is-such-that_3089577.png" --- # The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be… ![“The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. As such, it both affirms and denies its own nature.” quote by Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a1/paul-de-man-32598_ambivalence_the-ambivalence-of-writing-is-such-that_3089577.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a1/paul-de-man-32598_ambivalence_the-ambivalence-of-writing-is-such-that_3089577.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a1/paul-de-man-32598_ambivalence_the-ambivalence-of-writing-is-such-that_3089577.png) > “The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. As such, it both affirms and denies its own nature.” [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing simultaneously creates meaning and interprets it, leading to a paradox where the act both confirms and contradicts its own purpose. **In simple terms:** Writing is both creation and interpretation, a self‑contradictory process. Key Takeaway Embrace the tension between creation and analysis. Themes paradox creation interpretation self‑reflexivity Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type theoretical literary When to use this quote - academic writing - creative drafting - editing - critical review Key Concepts literary theory philosophy semiotics Questions to Reflect On - How does this ambivalence affect your own writing? - Can you balance creation with critique? A Different Perspective The dual nature can cause paralysis if over‑analyzed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Act Interpretive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/act-interpretive-5305632/) [Ambivalence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) [Ambivalence Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence-writing-5305631/) [Deny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deny/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Considered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-considered-2329541/) ## Related quotes > [As an undergraduate, I took a theology course titled Religion as Writing. If writing can be considered a form of faith, then inevitably doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/as-an-undergraduate-i-took-a-theology-course-titled-religion-as/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [I always loved writing, but never considered that I could do it professionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-brooks/i-always-loved-writing-but-never-considered-that-i-could-do-it/) [James L. Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-l-brooks/) > [My writing has always been considered extremely important, even though I make slim-to-no money at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/my-writing-has-always-been-considered-extremely-important-even-though/) [Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/) > [To me, writing is a considered act. It's something which is a great labor of thought and consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/to-me-writing-is-a-considered-act-it-s-something-which-is-a-great/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [“Maybe you have already been writing, but never considered a book before. What you have contributed to websites, discussion groups, blogs and membership communities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kytka-hilmar-jezek/maybe-you-have-already-been-writing-but-never-considered-a-book/) [Kytka Hilmar-Jezek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kytka-hilmar-jezek/) > [Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/prudence-is-not-hesitation-procrastination-or-moderation-it-is-not/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/i-think-we-have-deluded-ourselves-into-believing-that-people-don-t/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > ['The Simpsons' is about alienation and the ambivalence of living with a family who you love but who drive you completely crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/the-simpsons-is-about-alienation-and-the-ambivalence-of-living-with-a/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [“The problem is that when you’re not fighting for survival, it’s easy to stop making decisions and fall into the trap of thinking you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-ryder-howe/the-problem-is-that-when-you-re-not-fighting-for-survival-it-s-easy/) [Ben Ryder Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-ryder-howe/) > [We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. Certainty is American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/we-don-t-do-ambivalence-well-in-america-we-do-courage-of-our/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Raising a child is the very definition of ambivalence. I am overwhelmed at times by how something can simultaneously be so awful and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/raising-a-child-is-the-very-definition-of-ambivalence-i-am/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [We British play an important role in Europe, even if we have a traditional and historical ambivalence towards the continent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-barber/we-british-play-an-important-role-in-europe-even-if-we-have-a/) [Lionel Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-barber/) > [The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-base-of-artistic-pursuit-is-ambivalence-and-complexity-and-that-s/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) [Echo and the Bunnymen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-and-the-bunnymen/) > [The less obvious hurdle is that of preparing parents emotionally and putting forward realistic images of parenthood and motherhood. There also needs to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/the-less-obvious-hurdle-is-that-of-preparing-parents-emotionally-and/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) ## More by Paul de Man > [If one reads too quickly or too slowly, one understands nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/if-one-reads-too-quickly-or-too-slowly-one-understands-nothing/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Literature exists at the same time in the modes of error and truth; it both betrays and obeys its own mode of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/literature-exists-at-the-same-time-in-the-modes-of-error-and-truth-it/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Modernity exists in the form of a desire to wipe out whatever came earlier, in the hope of reaching at least a point that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/modernity-exists-in-the-form-of-a-desire-to-wipe-out-whatever-came/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/metaphors-are-much-more-tenacious-than-facts/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [“...asked by his wife whether he wants to have his bowling shoes laced over or laced under, Archie Bunker answers the question: "What's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/asked-by-his-wife-whether-he-wants-to-have-his-bowling-shoes-laced/) [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [What we call ideology is precisely the confusion of linguistic with natural reality, of reference with phenomenalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/what-we-call-ideology-is-precisely-the-confusion-of-linguistic-with/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [“Prior to any generalization about literature, literary texts have to be read, and the possibility of reading can never be taken for granted. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/prior-to-any-generalization-about-literature-literary-texts-have-to/) [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [The critical method which denies literary modernity would appear -- and even, in certain respects, would be -- the most modern of critical movements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/the-critical-method-which-denies-literary-modernity-would-appear-and/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Curiously enough, it seems to be only in describing a mode of language which does not mean what it says that one can actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/curiously-enough-it-seems-to-be-only-in-describing-a-mode-of-language/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Fashion is like the ashes left behind by the uniquely shaped flames of the fire, the trace alone revealing that a fire actually took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/fashion-is-like-the-ashes-left-behind-by-the-uniquely-shaped-flames/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Death is a displaced name for a linguistic predicament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/death-is-a-displaced-name-for-a-linguistic-predicament/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [The writer's language is to some degree the product of his own action; he is both the historian and the agent of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/the-writer-s-language-is-to-some-degree-the-product-of-his-own-action/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [“No one in his right mind will try to grow grapes by the luminosity of the word "day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/no-one-in-his-right-mind-will-try-to-grow-grapes-by-the-luminosity-of/) [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Literature... is condemned (or privileged) to be forever the most rigorous and, consequently, the most reliable of terms in which man names and transforms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/literature-is-condemned-or-privileged-to-be-forever-the-most-rigorous/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) [Explore all 15 Paul de Man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) ## More Ambivalence quotes > [The less obvious hurdle is that of preparing parents emotionally and putting forward realistic images of parenthood and motherhood. There also needs to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/the-less-obvious-hurdle-is-that-of-preparing-parents-emotionally-and/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) [Echo and the Bunnymen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-and-the-bunnymen/) > [The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-base-of-artistic-pursuit-is-ambivalence-and-complexity-and-that-s/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [We British play an important role in Europe, even if we have a traditional and historical ambivalence towards the continent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-barber/we-british-play-an-important-role-in-europe-even-if-we-have-a/) [Lionel Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-barber/) > [“Raising a child is the very definition of ambivalence. I am overwhelmed at times by how something can simultaneously be so awful and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/raising-a-child-is-the-very-definition-of-ambivalence-i-am/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. Certainty is American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/we-don-t-do-ambivalence-well-in-america-we-do-courage-of-our/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“The problem is that when you’re not fighting for survival, it’s easy to stop making decisions and fall into the trap of thinking you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-ryder-howe/the-problem-is-that-when-you-re-not-fighting-for-survival-it-s-easy/) [Ben Ryder Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-ryder-howe/) > ['The Simpsons' is about alienation and the ambivalence of living with a family who you love but who drive you completely crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/the-simpsons-is-about-alienation-and-the-ambivalence-of-living-with-a/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/i-think-we-have-deluded-ourselves-into-believing-that-people-don-t/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > [Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/prudence-is-not-hesitation-procrastination-or-moderation-it-is-not/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [From the beginning, there have been some religious leaders who greeted the funding of faith-based social services by government with ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/from-the-beginning-there-have-been-some-religious-leaders-who-greeted/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [Real love, the kind you have with a person, must go through ambivalence.There is simply no way around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumar-anupam/real-love-the-kind-you-have-with-a-person-must-go-through-ambivalence/) [Kumar Anupam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumar-anupam/) > [My children cause me the most exquisite suffering of which I have any experience. It is the suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alternation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/my-children-cause-me-the-most-exquisite-suffering-of-which-i-have-any/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Life had this unmoored quality, full of voids and barely acknowledged yearnings, and if I'd made a list of things I wanted desperately at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/life-had-this-unmoored-quality-full-of-voids-and-barely-acknowledged/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Horizontality is a desire to give up, to sleep. Verticality is an attempt to escape. Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/horizontality-is-a-desire-to-give-up-to-sleep-verticality-is-an/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) [Browse all 121 Ambivalence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. 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