--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no way that writers can be tamed…" description: "\"“There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured...the only solution known to science is to provide the patient with an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/robert-heinlein-24334_isolation_there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tame_753003.jpg" --- # There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered… ![“There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured...the only solution known to science is to provide the patient with an isolation room where he can endure the acute stages in private and where food can be poked to him with a stick. If you disturb the patient at such…” quote by Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/robert-heinlein-24334_isolation_there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tame_753003.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/robert-heinlein-24334_isolation_there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tame_753003.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/robert-heinlein-24334_isolation_there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tame_753003.jpg) > ““There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured...the only solution known to science is to provide the patient with an isolation room where he can endure the acute stages in private and where food can be poked to him with a stick. If you disturb the patient at such time, he may break into tears or become violent.”” [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers resist confinement; they need isolation to confront intense emotions, and forced interaction can cause distress or aggression. **In simple terms:** Writers need space to process intense feelings. Key Takeaway Respect creative solitude. Themes creativity isolation mental health artistic freedom Mood thoughtful cautionary analytical Type literary psychological When to use this quote - writing retreats - mental health support for artists - managing creative stress - balancing solitude and collaboration - protecting artistic integrity Key Concepts psychology artistic process emotional intensity Questions to Reflect On - How can writers balance solitude with community? - What supports mental health without stifling creativity? A Different Perspective Isolation can lead to loneliness or hinder collaboration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Isolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured. The only solution known to science is to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tamed-and-rendered-civilized-or-3/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized. Or even cured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-is-no-way-that-writers-can-be-tamed-and-rendered-civilized-or-2/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“This was the difference, she thought, between solitude and isolation. And now she knew something about herself she hadn’t known before. It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-was-the-difference-she-thought-between-solitude-and-isolation/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [“This is one of the harshest after effects of the pandemic that I am witnessing some and experiencing some, a diminished ability to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shellen-lubin/this-is-one-of-the-harshest-after-effects-of-the-pandemic-that-i-am/) [Shellen Lubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shellen-lubin/) > [Helping reproductive services doesn't just help women in isolation. It helps men just as much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/helping-reproductive-services-doesn-t-just-help-women-in-isolation-it/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > ['Mulk' is a film that needed to be made. We can no longer sweep the isolation of the Indian Muslim under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anubhav-sinha/mulk-is-a-film-that-needed-to-be-made-we-can-no-longer-sweep-the/) [Anubhav Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anubhav-sinha/) > [“In good company your thoughts run, in solitude your thought is still; it goes deeper and makes for itself a deeper groove, delves. Delve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-good-company-your-thoughts-run-in-solitude-your-thought-is-still/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [I am very convinced that I did not contract Ebola in the isolation unit, because our process is so safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-brantly/i-am-very-convinced-that-i-did-not-contract-ebola-in-the-isolation/) [Kent Brantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-brantly/) > [Isolation makes me lonesome, but when I'm lonely in a crowd, I feel desolate and forlorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/isolation-makes-me-lonesome-but-when-i-m-lonely-in-a-crowd-i-feel/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) ## More by Robert Heinlein > [“The uncounted days slid past while he argued with himself over the things that bothered him-problems that had made sad the soul of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/the-uncounted-days-slid-past-while-he-argued-with-himself-over-the/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“It’s the bell curve again,” I said to Ishtar. “If—as Lazarus thinks, and statistics back him up—every migration comes primarily from the right-hand end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/it-s-the-bell-curve-again-i-said-to-ishtar-if-as-lazarus-thinks-and/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/never-try-to-teach-a-pig-to-sing-it-wastes-your-time-and-it-annoys/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching oversized braincase and the opposable thumb—this animal barely up from the apes—will endure, will endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/i-believe-that-this-hairless-embryo-with-the-aching-oversized/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“Writing can be learned, but not taught.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/writing-can-be-learned-but-not-taught/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“Apparently Blank thinks I am a nice accommodating guy, please explain to him that I am a son of a bitch”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/apparently-blank-thinks-i-am-a-nice-accommodating-guy-please-explain/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“It scared him a little. He had once heard, and was inclined to credit, that a loss of interest in living marked the true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/it-scared-him-a-little-he-had-once-heard-and-was-inclined-to-credit/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore! Robert A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/a-government-supported-artist-is-an-incompetent-whore-robert-a/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“He had intended at first to send Ford down in the Chili. It was not gratitude that changed his mind, but respect. Once he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/he-had-intended-at-first-to-send-ford-down-in-the-chili-it-was-not/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/anybody-can-look-at-a-pretty-girl-and-see-a-pretty-girl-an-artist-can/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to it's subjects, this you may not read, this you must not see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/when-any-government-or-church-for-that-matter-undertakes-to-say-to-it/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/how-we-behave-toward-cats-here-below-determines-our-status-in-heaven/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“Mistress mine, your unique and special quality is this: When I'm around you, I'm happy." "Richard!" "Quit blubbering. Can't stand a female who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/mistress-mine-your-unique-and-special-quality-is-this-when-i-m-around/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [“I know that I am free because I alone am responsible for everything that I do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/i-know-that-i-am-free-because-i-alone-am-responsible-for-everything/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) > [Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heinlein/love-is-a-condition-in-which-the-happiness-of-another-person-is/) [Robert Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) [Explore all 24 Robert Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heinlein/) ## More Isolation quotes > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [Isolation makes me lonesome, but when I'm lonely in a crowd, I feel desolate and forlorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/isolation-makes-me-lonesome-but-when-i-m-lonely-in-a-crowd-i-feel/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [I am very convinced that I did not contract Ebola in the isolation unit, because our process is so safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-brantly/i-am-very-convinced-that-i-did-not-contract-ebola-in-the-isolation/) [Kent Brantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-brantly/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [“In good company your thoughts run, in solitude your thought is still; it goes deeper and makes for itself a deeper groove, delves. Delve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-good-company-your-thoughts-run-in-solitude-your-thought-is-still/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > ['Mulk' is a film that needed to be made. We can no longer sweep the isolation of the Indian Muslim under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anubhav-sinha/mulk-is-a-film-that-needed-to-be-made-we-can-no-longer-sweep-the/) [Anubhav Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anubhav-sinha/) > [Helping reproductive services doesn't just help women in isolation. It helps men just as much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/helping-reproductive-services-doesn-t-just-help-women-in-isolation-it/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [“This is one of the harshest after effects of the pandemic that I am witnessing some and experiencing some, a diminished ability to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shellen-lubin/this-is-one-of-the-harshest-after-effects-of-the-pandemic-that-i-am/) [Shellen Lubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shellen-lubin/) > [“This was the difference, she thought, between solitude and isolation. And now she knew something about herself she hadn’t known before. It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-was-the-difference-she-thought-between-solitude-and-isolation/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [Oh, the solitariness of sin! There is nothing like it, except, perhaps, the solitariness of death. In that isolation none can reach you, none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-reginald-haweis/oh-the-solitariness-of-sin-there-is-nothing-like-it-except-perhaps/) [Hugh Reginald Haweis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-reginald-haweis/) > [So many writers grew up in tortured isolation, in revolt against their families. I and my sister were in a house where writing was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/so-many-writers-grew-up-in-tortured-isolation-in-revolt-against-their/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) [Browse all 1,128 Isolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured...the only solution known to science is to provide the patient with an isolation room where he can endure the acute stages in private and where food can be poked to him with a stick. 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