--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is…" description: "\"For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is as dead as a book once it is written. She is rather like a cat whose kittens have grown up.\" — Rumer Godden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/rumer-godden-11889_book_for-a-dyed-in-the-wool-author-nothing-is_1227785.jpg" --- # For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is as dead as a… ![“For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is as dead as a book once it is written. She is rather like a cat whose kittens have grown up.” quote by Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/rumer-godden-11889_book_for-a-dyed-in-the-wool-author-nothing-is_1227785.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/rumer-godden-11889_book_for-a-dyed-in-the-wool-author-nothing-is_1227785.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/rumer-godden-11889_book_for-a-dyed-in-the-wool-author-nothing-is_1227785.jpg) > “For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is as dead as a book once it is written. She is rather like a cat whose kittens have grown up.” [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An author who writes extensively may feel their work is lifeless after completion, similar to a cat whose kittens have matured and left. **In simple terms:** Writers can feel their books are dead once finished. Key Takeaway Accept that creation continues beyond the finished work. Themes creativity legacy completion authorial doubt Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing process - publishing - author interviews Key Concepts existential reflection literary metaphor Questions to Reflect On - Does finishing a work diminish its vitality? - How do creators stay connected to their work? A Different Perspective The metaphor may not resonate with all readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Dead Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-book-1589983/) [Kittens Grown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kittens-grown-3785153/) [Like Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-cat/) [Wool Author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wool-author-3153611/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) [Written Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-like-469240/) ## Related quotes > [For a dyed-in-the-wool author nothing is as dead as a book once it is written ... she is rather like a cat whose kittens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/for-a-dyed-in-the-wool-author-nothing-is-as-dead-as-a-book-once-it-is-2/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [For an author nothing is as dead as a book once it is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/for-an-author-nothing-is-as-dead-as-a-book-once-it-is-written/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“And it is also the only reward for my work: to feel what I have written is like the back of a cat as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/and-it-is-also-the-only-reward-for-my-work-to-feel-what-i-have/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Sarah wonders if whatever secrets Grace is protecting feel the same as her own, sometimes just fuzzy and ticklish, like a littler of kittens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-neff/sarah-wonders-if-whatever-secrets-grace-is-protecting-feel-the-same/) [Beth Neff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-neff/) > [The Bible becomes a dead idol when we call the words between its covers inerrant, infallible, to be taken literally. This is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-white/the-bible-becomes-a-dead-idol-when-we-call-the-words-between-its/) [Mel White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-white/) > [Loneliness had taught Harriet that there was always someone who understood - it was just so often that they were dead, and in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-ibbotson/loneliness-had-taught-harriet-that-there-was-always-someone-who/) [Eva Ibbotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-ibbotson/) > [There's no reason to keep a piece of furniture in your house that is so sacred and rare that you can't put your feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/there-s-no-reason-to-keep-a-piece-of-furniture-in-your-house-that-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I love it when the market reacts naturally to events. It's like a cat coughing up a fur ball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-love-it-when-the-market-reacts-naturally-to-events-it-s-like-a-cat/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [My mom was kinda like a cat. She slept a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-handler/my-mom-was-kinda-like-a-cat-she-slept-a-lot/) [Chelsea Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-handler/) > [Steve Bruce is like a cat on hot tin bricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-martin/steve-bruce-is-like-a-cat-on-hot-tin-bricks/) [Alvin Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-martin/) > [The camera movement should be like a cat jumping onto a table - with just enough amount of effort and that's it. That's enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mcqueen/the-camera-movement-should-be-like-a-cat-jumping-onto-a-table-with/) [Steve McQueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mcqueen/) > [When I am happy I am like a cat, sleek and purring, quite useless. It is when I am unhappy, with an ache perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-la-marr/when-i-am-happy-i-am-like-a-cat-sleek-and-purring-quite-useless-it-is/) [Barbara La Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-la-marr/) > [Man wishes woman to be peaceable, but in fact she is essentially warlike, like the cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-wishes-woman-to-be-peaceable-but-in-fact-she-is-essentially/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [He suddenly announced that he could not write any more since "All that I have written seems like straw to me."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/he-suddenly-announced-that-he-could-not-write-any-more-since-all-that/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“Put some other things to rights too, she had written, like maybe a hitch in her magic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-hunter/put-some-other-things-to-rights-too-she-had-written-like-maybe-a/) [Faith Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-hunter/) ## More by Rumer Godden > [“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/) > [in California I began to think that, except on the beaches, no-one had the use of their legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-california-i-began-to-think-that-except-on-the-beaches-no-one-had/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [Of course one never knows in draft if it's going to turn out, even with my age and experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/of-course-one-never-knows-in-draft-if-it-s-going-to-turn-out-even/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [You can be a nuisance to your family. You mustn't be a nuisance to your friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/you-can-be-a-nuisance-to-your-family-you-mustn-t-be-a-nuisance-to/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“Towards four o'clock the dew fell, and she smelled a gust of sweetness from the roses and a paleness showed in the sky to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/towards-four-o-clock-the-dew-fell-and-she-smelled-a-gust-of-sweetness/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [It's only by being obstinate that anything is got, or done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/it-s-only-by-being-obstinate-that-anything-is-got-or-done/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“My nation, as all nations, is becoming a land without peace, without thought, without mind, Madam Abbess. We are suffocating our spirits in commercial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/my-nation-as-all-nations-is-becoming-a-land-without-peace-without/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/once-you-have-felt-the-indian-dust-you-will-never-be-free-of-it/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“Every piece of writing... starts from what I call a grit... a sight or sound, a sentence or a happening that does not pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/every-piece-of-writing-starts-from-what-i-call-a-grit-a-sight-or/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [If books were Persian carpets, one would not look only at the outer side. because it is the stitch that makes a carpet wear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/if-books-were-persian-carpets-one-would-not-look-only-at-the-outer/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [With everything that happens to you, with everyone you meet who is important to you, you either die a little or are born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/with-everything-that-happens-to-you-with-everyone-you-meet-who-is/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [As one gets older being sad and miserable can become a bit of a habit. To counteract this, she suggests making a point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/as-one-gets-older-being-sad-and-miserable-can-become-a-bit-of-a-habit/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [The best would be to have friends who came and went away; but if I had to choose between their never coming or never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/the-best-would-be-to-have-friends-who-came-and-went-away-but-if-i-had/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“Harriet told her, 'Captain John was so brave. He stayed there in the battle until his leg was shot off.' Victoria's brown eyes rested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/harriet-told-her-captain-john-was-so-brave-he-stayed-there-in-the/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“The human heart Is unknowable. But in my birthplace The flowers still smell The same as always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/the-human-heart-is-unknowable-but-in-my-birthplace-the-flowers-still/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) [Explore all 57 Rumer Godden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For a dyed-in-the-wool author, nothing is as dead as a book once it is written. 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