--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It has forever been thus: So long as men…" description: "\"It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. And it is then that w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/rod-serling-2652_acts-of-courage_it-has-forever-been-thus-so-long-as-men_1852390.jpg" --- # It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they… ![“It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. And it is then that writing becomes a weapon of truth, an article of faith, an act of courage.” quote by Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/rod-serling-2652_acts-of-courage_it-has-forever-been-thus-so-long-as-men_1852390.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/rod-serling-2652_acts-of-courage_it-has-forever-been-thus-so-long-as-men_1852390.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/rod-serling-2652_acts-of-courage_it-has-forever-been-thus-so-long-as-men_1852390.jpg) > “It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. And it is then that writing becomes a weapon of truth, an article of faith, an act of courage.” [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing honest thoughts protects freedom; truth in writing becomes a courageous act. **In simple terms:** Writing truth safeguards freedom. Key Takeaway Write honestly to defend liberty. Themes freedom truth writing courage responsibility Mood thoughtful defiant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - journalism - activism - education - political discourse Key Concepts political philosophy ethics media studies Questions to Reflect On - What risks do you face when writing truth? - How does writing become a weapon? A Different Perspective Writing can be censored or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acts of courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acts-of-courage/) [Articles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/articles/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Freedoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedoms/) [Freedoms Remain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedoms-remain-2438601/) [Intact Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intact-writing-2438602/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-write-334665/) [Think Freedoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-freedoms-2438603/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I do think that our freedoms are at risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-thomas/i-do-think-that-our-freedoms-are-at-risk/) [Clarence Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-thomas/) > [I ask for your indulgence when I march out quotations. This is the double syndrome of men who write for a living and men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-ask-for-your-indulgence-when-i-march-out-quotations-this-is-the/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I feel like women very often do write differently than men, but women write things that men can't write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringwald/i-feel-like-women-very-often-do-write-differently-than-men-but-women/) [Molly Ringwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringwald/) > [It's like if a young woman writes it, then it's chick lit. We don't care if she's slaying vampires or working as a nanny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/it-s-like-if-a-young-woman-writes-it-then-it-s-chick-lit-we-don-t/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [I suggest to my students that they write under a pseudonym for a week. That allows young men to write as women, and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-suggest-to-my-students-that-they-write-under-a-pseudonym-for-a-week/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I never can understand how two men can write a book together; to me that's like three people getting together to have a baby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/i-never-can-understand-how-two-men-can-write-a-book-together-to-me/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [There are men who can write poetry, and there are men who can read balance sheets. The men who can read balance sheets cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-r-luce/there-are-men-who-can-write-poetry-and-there-are-men-who-can-read/) [Henry R. Luce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-r-luce/) > [When someone like Kurt Cobain or Jack White comes out, they didn't go, "He sounds just like Muddy Waters," did they? They just said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shingai-shoniwa/when-someone-like-kurt-cobain-or-jack-white-comes-out-they-didn-t-go/) [Shingai Shoniwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shingai-shoniwa/) > [“Men write great romance because they have more at stake”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pj-bayliss/men-write-great-romance-because-they-have-more-at-stake/) [PJ Bayliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pj-bayliss/) > [When men write women, they tend to write women the way they want women to be, or the way they resent women for being.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/when-men-write-women-they-tend-to-write-women-the-way-they-want-women/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [Two temptations that impair the value of their work inevitably beset public men who write memoirs. One is a tendency to reconstruct the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-grey-1st-viscount-grey-of-fallodon/two-temptations-that-impair-the-value-of-their-work-inevitably-beset/) [Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-grey-1st-viscount-grey-of-fallodon/) > [History -- its what those bitter old men write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-its-what-those-bitter-old-men-write/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That's always been part of my goal - to show the dark side of women. Men write about bad men all the time, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/that-s-always-been-part-of-my-goal-to-show-the-dark-side-of-women-men/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [The men who act stand nearer to the mass of man than the men who write; and it is in their hands that new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-men-who-act-stand-nearer-to-the-mass-of-man-than-the-men-who/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“Men may write fictions portraying lowly life as it is, or as it is not—may expatiate with owlish gravity upon the bliss of ignorance—discourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-northup/men-may-write-fictions-portraying-lowly-life-as-it-is-or-as-it-is-not/) [Solomon Northup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-northup/) ## More by Rod Serling > [If you want to prove that God is not dead first prove that man is alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/if-you-want-to-prove-that-god-is-not-dead-first-prove-that-man-is/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [There is nothing in the dark that isn't there when the lights are on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/there-is-nothing-in-the-dark-that-isn-t-there-when-the-lights-are-on/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [There are weapons that are simply thoughts. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/there-are-weapons-that-are-simply-thoughts-for-the-record-prejudices/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I don't believe in reincarnation. That's a cop-out, I know. I don't really want to be reincarnated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-don-t-believe-in-reincarnation-that-s-a-cop-out-i-know-i-don-t/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I was deeply interested in conveying what is a deeply felt conviction of my own. This is simply to suggest that human beings must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-was-deeply-interested-in-conveying-what-is-a-deeply-felt-conviction/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [If in any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain, first check the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/if-in-any-quest-for-magic-in-any-search-for-sorcery-witchery/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/any-state-any-entity-any-ideology-that-fails-to-recognize-the-worth/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/it-may-be-said-with-a-degree-of-assurance-that-not-everything-that/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I don't know what my friends do. Generally they become producers. That way they can stop writing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-don-t-know-what-my-friends-do-generally-they-become-producers-that/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I just want people to remember me a hundred years from now. I don't care that they're not able to quote any single line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-just-want-people-to-remember-me-a-hundred-years-from-now-i-don-t/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth. It is man’s prerogative - and woman’s - to create their own particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/according-to-the-bible-god-created-the-heavens-and-the-earth-it-is/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [“In his grave, we praise him for his decency - but when he walked amongst us, we responded with no decency of our own.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/in-his-grave-we-praise-him-for-his-decency-but-when-he-walked-amongst/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [If you're really a good writer and deserve that honored position, then by God, you'll write, and you'll be read, and you'll be produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/if-you-re-really-a-good-writer-and-deserve-that-honored-position-then/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I would guess that the price of the script really is secondary. The credit is much more the essence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-would-guess-that-the-price-of-the-script-really-is-secondary-the/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [I don't think it's man's function to write. I don't think it's a normal thing like teeth-brushing and going to the bathroom. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-don-t-think-it-s-man-s-function-to-write-i-don-t-think-it-s-a/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) [Explore all 156 Rod Serling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) ## More Acts of courage quotes > [The greatest act of courage is to be and to ownall of who you are—without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/the-greatest-act-of-courage-is-to-be-and-to-ownall-of-who-you-are/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/discipline-is-built-by-consistently-performing-small-acts-of-courage/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [It is an act of courage to acknowledge our own uncertainty and sit with it for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-lerner/it-is-an-act-of-courage-to-acknowledge-our-own-uncertainty-and-sit/) [Harriet Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-lerner/) > [We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-become-just-by-the-practice-of-just-actions-self-controlled-by/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [What really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/what-really-counts-is-not-the-immediate-act-of-courage-or-of-valor/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [It is an extraordinary act of courage,' said Tulas Shorn, 'to come to know a stranger's pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/it-is-an-extraordinary-act-of-courage-said-tulas-shorn-to-come-to/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/i-am-convinced-that-the-truest-act-of-courage-the-strongest-act-of/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/a-most-insidious-form-of-fear-is-that-which-masquerades-as-common/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [Motherhood is always an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/motherhood-is-always-an-act-of-courage/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [It’s precisely the people who are considered the least ‘likely’ leaders who end up inspiring others the most. Everyday people and everyday acts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-jen-poo/it-s-precisely-the-people-who-are-considered-the-least-likely-leaders/) [Ai-jen Poo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-jen-poo/) > [Crossing the starting line may be an act of courage, but crossing the finish line is an act of faith. Faith is what kepes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/crossing-the-starting-line-may-be-an-act-of-courage-but-crossing-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To set and work toward any goal is an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/to-set-and-work-toward-any-goal-is-an-act-of-courage/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [A single act of courage is often the tipping point for extraordinary change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/a-single-act-of-courage-is-often-the-tipping-point-for-extraordinary/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [A spontaneous act of generosity, performed with unselfish grace is an example of moral beauty, as are certain acts of courage; genuine modesty is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yi-fu-tuan/a-spontaneous-act-of-generosity-performed-with-unselfish-grace-is-an/) [Yi-Fu Tuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yi-fu-tuan/) > [Education is an act of love, and thus an act of courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/education-is-an-act-of-love-and-thus-an-act-of-courage/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) [Browse all 58 Acts of courage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acts-of-courage/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. 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