--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write…" description: "\"Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to be paid well.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png" --- # Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to… ![“Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to be paid well.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png) > “Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to be paid well.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A writer may produce quality work primarily for financial reward rather than artistic integrity. **In simple terms:** Writers may be motivated by money. Key Takeaway Consider motivations behind your work. Themes money writing integrity Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career choice - freelance writing - publishing - salary negotiations Key Concepts economics artistic compromise Questions to Reflect On - What drives your creative output? - Do you value profit over passion? A Different Perspective Financial incentives can undermine creative authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paid/) [Sir Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sir-write-1441517/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-order-2011172/) [Write Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-write/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [All the stories I would like to write persecute me. When I am in my chamber, it seems as if they are all around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/all-the-stories-i-would-like-to-write-persecute-me-when-i-am-in-my/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [I write in order to bear witness to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-write-in-order-to-bear-witness-to-life/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Now I've got a fairly good grasp of the 18th century on what was common and what people thought. But I don't write in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/now-i-ve-got-a-fairly-good-grasp-of-the-18th-century-on-what-was/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [I write in order to belong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-poniatowska/i-write-in-order-to-belong/) [Elena Poniatowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-poniatowska/) > [You write in order to change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/you-write-in-order-to-change-the-world/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I write in order to comprehend, not to express myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kamienska/i-write-in-order-to-comprehend-not-to-express-myself/) [Anna Kamienska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kamienska/) > [“It is better to write in order to find what you are than to write to find what price others put on you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kemp/it-is-better-to-write-in-order-to-find-what-you-are-than-to-write-to/) [Daniel Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kemp/) > [Oftentimes, I need to write about something in order to understand it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/oftentimes-i-need-to-write-about-something-in-order-to-understand-it/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I write as if I'm someone reading the book - often people ask if I write one strand first and then go back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/i-write-as-if-i-m-someone-reading-the-book-often-people-ask-if-i/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [If you want to be a writer, then write. Write every day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-you-want-to-be-a-writer-then-write-write-every-day/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Write it. Just write it. Write it on receipts in the car while you wait for your kid to finish their piano lessons, scribble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melodie-ramone/write-it-just-write-it-write-it-on-receipts-in-the-car-while-you-wait/) [Melodie Ramone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melodie-ramone/) > [If you want to be a writer, write. Write and write and write. If you stop, start again. Save everything that you write. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/if-you-want-to-be-a-writer-write-write-and-write-and-write-if-you/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“I always tell myself, 'you can write anything, but first you have to write something'.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevan-duke/i-always-tell-myself-you-can-write-anything-but-first-you-have-to/) [Kevan Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevan-duke/) > [Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/write-write-letters-keep-journals-besides-your-children-there-is-no/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [I'm always telling my students go to law school or become a doctor, do something, and then write. First of all you should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-m-always-telling-my-students-go-to-law-school-or-become-a-doctor-do/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Order quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [It is absolutely necessary... for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/it-is-absolutely-necessary-for-me-to-have-persons-that-can-think-for/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/i-do-conscientiously-and-sincerely-believe-that-the-order-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I've tried and tried,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wilson/i-think-i-need-the-demons-in-order-to-write-but-the-demons-have-gone/) [Brian Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wilson/) [Browse all 13,339 Order quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to be paid well.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-well-in-order-to-be-paid-well/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Order" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-well-in-order-to-be-paid-well/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/samuel-johnson-50_order_nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-we_2988128.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in order to be paid well.” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nay, Sir, those who write in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-well-in-order-to-be-paid-well/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nay-sir-those-who-write-in-them-write-well-in-order-to-be-paid-well/#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 } } ] } ```