--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The good writers touch life often. The…" description: "\"The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.\" — Ray Bradbury" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/ray-bradbury-75_good-writers_the-good-writers-touch-life-often-the-me_3114877.jpg" --- # The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a… ![“The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.” quote by Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/ray-bradbury-75_good-writers_the-good-writers-touch-life-often-the-me_3114877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/ray-bradbury-75_good-writers_the-good-writers-touch-life-often-the-me_3114877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/ray-bradbury-75_good-writers_the-good-writers-touch-life-often-the-me_3114877.jpg) > “The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.” [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts how writers engage with their subjects, from respectful observation to exploitative manipulation. **In simple terms:** Writers differ in how they treat their material. Key Takeaway Respect and depth matter more than sensationalism. Themes writing ethics creativity Mood reflective critical Type observational ethical When to use this quote - journalism - fiction writing - creative workshops - editorial reviews Key Concepts literary criticism authorial intent Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure respectful engagement with your subject? - What ethical lines do you draw in storytelling? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be overly harsh, alienating some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“The good writers touch life. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-good-writers-touch-life-the-mediocre-ones-run-a-quick-hand-over/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-more-pores-the-more-truthfully-recorded-details-of-life-per-2/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The good writers touch life often.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-good-writers-touch-life-often/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Good writers touch life often.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/good-writers-touch-life-often/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Living your life mediocre way is like being satisfied with just a bowl of soup when you have been invited for a 5-course meal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayatri-gadre/living-your-life-mediocre-way-is-like-being-satisfied-with-just-a/) [Gayatri Gadre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayatri-gadre/) > [To run with the majority during the race of life is to be mediocre all of the time and wrong most of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-smith/to-run-with-the-majority-during-the-race-of-life-is-to-be-mediocre/) [Len Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-smith/) > [The difference between a remarkable life and a mediocre one is not nearly as large as you might imagine. Nope, we all pretty much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s-sharma/the-difference-between-a-remarkable-life-and-a-mediocre-one-is-not/) [Robin S. Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-s-sharma/) > [“The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-more-pores-the-more-truthfully-recorded-details-of-life-per/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [There aren't enough people who are passionate with what they do. They're content just going through life being mediocre, being average. They don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-baldwin/there-aren-t-enough-people-who-are-passionate-with-what-they-do-they/) [Doug Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-baldwin/) > [You don't set off in life to be mediocre. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" He laughed. "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/do-you-ever-read-any-of-the-books-you-burn-he-laughed-that-s-against/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-no-reason-to-burn-books-if-you-don-t-read-them/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. 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The more you eat, the more you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-library-is-the-biggest-cracker-box-factory-in-the-world-the-more/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-travel-for-romance-we-travel-for-architecture-and-we-travel-to-be/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should educate themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-spent-three-days-a-week-for-10-years-educating-myself-in-the-public/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [If we try to deny the darkness in our souls then we'll become completely dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-we-try-to-deny-the-darkness-in-our-souls-then-we-ll-become/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/but-remember-that-the-captain-belongs-to-the-most-dangerous-enemy-to/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) [Explore all 1,520 Ray Bradbury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## More Good writers quotes > [You don't have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it's better if you're not--but you have to understand your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/you-don-t-have-to-be-a-good-person-to-be-a-good-writer-history-shows/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [I'm not famous for my back story investigations; I'm lucky that I work with good writers and it's usually in the script.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nighy/i-m-not-famous-for-my-back-story-investigations-i-m-lucky-that-i-work/) [Bill Nighy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nighy/) > [So many interviews, even ones that I consider really intelligent and good writers, will do the, like, 'Oh, you're not taking your clothes off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorde/so-many-interviews-even-ones-that-i-consider-really-intelligent-and/) [Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorde/) > [What makes a good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/what-makes-a-good-writer-of-history-is-a-guy-who-is-suspicious/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [My grandfather had been a newspaper reporter, as was my uncle. They were pretty good writers and so I thought maybe somewhere down the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-hackman/my-grandfather-had-been-a-newspaper-reporter-as-was-my-uncle-they/) [Gene Hackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-hackman/) > [Good writers hate bad writing but hating bad writing doesn’t make you good. Writing badly does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/good-writers-hate-bad-writing-but-hating-bad-writing-doesn-t-make-you/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he or she might be, could be as interesting as Picasso. A good writer on art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/no-theoretician-no-writer-on-art-however-interesting-he-or-she-might/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/a-good-writer-does-not-write-as-people-write-but-as-he-writes/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [You can't be a good writer without being a good thinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/you-can-t-be-a-good-writer-without-being-a-good-thinker/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [“Most good writers are good psychologists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-ballon/most-good-writers-are-good-psychologists/) Rachel Ballon > [Well, you know when people are no good at anything else they become writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/well-you-know-when-people-are-no-good-at-anything-else-they-become/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/good-writers-are-those-who-keep-the-language-efficient-that-is-to-say/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I always think that good writers should be growing up on the brink of death - it really lets them see mortality very clearly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/i-always-think-that-good-writers-should-be-growing-up-on-the-brink-of/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [ Neil \[Gaiman, creator of the comic Sandman, featuring the Amos-based character Delirium\] believes that faeries have gone beyond cool. They've transcended cool. I just… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/neil-gaiman-creator-of-the-comic-sandman-featuring-the-amos-based/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [Usually people who do bad things make good writers.I did a lot of bad things, which is why my novels are interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakucho-setouchi/usually-people-who-do-bad-things-make-good-writers-i-did-a-lot-of-bad/) Jakucho Setouchi Browse all 203 Good writers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. 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