--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most important thing about the first…" description: "\"The most important thing about the first sale is for the very first time in your life something written has value and proven value because somebody has..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg" --- # The most important thing about the first sale is for the… ![“The most important thing about the first sale is for the very first time in your life something written has value and proven value because somebody has given you money for the words that you've written, and that's terribly important, it's a tremendous boon to the ego, to your sense of…” quote by Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg) > “The most important thing about the first sale is for the very first time in your life something written has value and proven value because somebody has given you money for the words that you've written, and that's terribly important, it's a tremendous boon to the ego, to your sense of self-reliance, to your feeling about your own talent.” [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. First sale validates that written work has market value, boosting confidence and self‑reliance. **In simple terms:** Selling your writing proves its worth and lifts your ego. Key Takeaway Celebrate milestones to reinforce belief in your talent. Themes confidence self‑esteem validation writing Mood proud motivated Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - Launching a book - freelance writing - pitching articles - securing contracts Key Concepts Market validation ego boost self‑reliance Questions to Reflect On - How does external validation affect your creative process? - What steps keep confidence stable after a first sale? A Different Perspective Success may create pressure to maintain sales, leading to anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Important things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-things/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Sale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sale/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self reliance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-reliance/) [Sense of self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-self/) [Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talent/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [“If you cherish something enough", she told me, "it doesn't matter how old or worn or useless it's become; your caring for it immediately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/if-you-cherish-something-enough-she-told-me-it-doesn-t-matter-how-old/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [It is enough that I am of value to somebody today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/it-is-enough-that-i-am-of-value-to-somebody-today/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [I value comedy. I value somebody who can be funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-brooks/i-value-comedy-i-value-somebody-who-can-be-funny/) [James L. Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-l-brooks/) > [Things have value Because somebody buys them, Because somebody pays money; If you can find a buyer, Even a lie is worth a thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/things-have-value-because-somebody-buys-them-because-somebody-pays/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [If you want to recruit somebody of high character and value, somebody you can trust to not only watch your house, but your children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-bielema/if-you-want-to-recruit-somebody-of-high-character-and-value-somebody/) [Bret Bielema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-bielema/) > [The true value of somebody in this town is very hard to determine. It's all smoke and mirrors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/the-true-value-of-somebody-in-this-town-is-very-hard-to-determine-it/) [Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/) > [If you don't know your own value, somebody will tell you your value, and it'll be less than you're worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-hopkins/if-you-don-t-know-your-own-value-somebody-will-tell-you-your-value/) [Bernard Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-hopkins/) > [Prayer is, paradoxically, both a gift and a conquest, a grace and a duty. Does that not mean, is it not a special case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-forsyth/prayer-is-paradoxically-both-a-gift-and-a-conquest-a-grace-and-a-duty/) [Peter Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-forsyth/) > [Texting is a fundamentally sneaky form of communication, which we should despise, but it is such a boon we don't care. We are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/texting-is-a-fundamentally-sneaky-form-of-communication-which-we/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Sisterly love is one of the few boons in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-bowles/sisterly-love-is-one-of-the-few-boons-in-this-life/) [Jane Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-bowles/) > [Women, you overheated dipsomaniacs, never passing up a chance to wangle a drink, a great boon to bartenders but a bane to us--not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/women-you-overheated-dipsomaniacs-never-passing-up-a-chance-to-wangle/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Death is an ill; 'tis thus the Gods decide: / For had death been a boon, the Gods had died.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/death-is-an-ill-tis-thus-the-gods-decide-for-had-death-been-a-boon/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/truly-the-bench-is-a-boon-to-idlers-whoever-first-came-up-with-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## 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 Boon quotes > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/truly-the-bench-is-a-boon-to-idlers-whoever-first-came-up-with-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Death is an ill; 'tis thus the Gods decide: / For had death been a boon, the Gods had died.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/death-is-an-ill-tis-thus-the-gods-decide-for-had-death-been-a-boon/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [Women, you overheated dipsomaniacs, never passing up a chance to wangle a drink, a great boon to bartenders but a bane to us--not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/women-you-overheated-dipsomaniacs-never-passing-up-a-chance-to-wangle/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Sisterly love is one of the few boons in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-bowles/sisterly-love-is-one-of-the-few-boons-in-this-life/) [Jane Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-bowles/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Texting is a fundamentally sneaky form of communication, which we should despise, but it is such a boon we don't care. We are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/texting-is-a-fundamentally-sneaky-form-of-communication-which-we/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Prayer is, paradoxically, both a gift and a conquest, a grace and a duty. Does that not mean, is it not a special case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-forsyth/prayer-is-paradoxically-both-a-gift-and-a-conquest-a-grace-and-a-duty/) [Peter Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-forsyth/) > [Friendship, peculiar boon of Heaven, The noble mind's delight and pride, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world denied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/friendship-peculiar-boon-of-heaven-the-noble-mind-s-delight-and-pride/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [My mother and father were never frightened of anything. They always felt that they should go through life happily and without fear, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassavetes/my-mother-and-father-were-never-frightened-of-anything-they-always/) [John Cassavetes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassavetes/) > [Whate'er my doom; It cannot be unhappy: God hath given me The boon of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/whate-er-my-doom-it-cannot-be-unhappy-god-hath-given-me-the-boon-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Is life a boon? If so, it must befall That Death, whene'er he call, Must call too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/is-life-a-boon-if-so-it-must-befall-that-death-whene-er-he-call-must/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [I do think that I have been fortunate to make friendships with other scholars, and form reading groups where ideas are exchanged and papers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/i-do-think-that-i-have-been-fortunate-to-make-friendships-with-other/) [Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/) > [Youth is a silly, vapid state, Old age with fears and ills is rife, This simple boon I beg of Fate - A thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/youth-is-a-silly-vapid-state-old-age-with-fears-and-ills-is-rife-this/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-all-do-no-end-of-feeling-and-we-mistake-it-for-thinking-and-out-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) Browse all 126 Boon quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most important thing about the first sale is for the very first time in your life something written has value and proven value because somebody has given you money for the words that you've written, and that's terribly important, it's a tremendous boon to the ego, to your sense of self-reliance, to your feeling about your own talent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rod Serling" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/the-most-important-thing-about-the-first-sale-is-for-the-very-first/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/the-most-important-thing-about-the-first-sale-is-for-the-very-first/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/rod-serling-2652_boon_the-most-important-thing-about-the-first_609933.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most important thing about the first sale is for the very first time in your life something written has…” — Rod Serling", "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": "Rod Serling", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The most important thing about the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/the-most-important-thing-about-the-first-sale-is-for-the-very-first/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/the-most-important-thing-about-the-first-sale-is-for-the-very-first/#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 } } ] } ```