---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I write [. . .] doesn't seem to be…"
description: "\"“What I write [. . .] doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean I can model so little of what it's about. Life is a very terrible thing, mostly, with point..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg"
---

#  What I write \[. . .\] doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean…

![“What I write &#91;. . .&#93; doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean I can model so little of what it's about. Life is a very terrible thing, mostly, with points of wonder and beauty. Most of what makes it terrible, though, is simply that there's so much of it, blaring in through the five senses. In my…” quote by Samuel R. Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg)

> ““What I write \[. . .\] doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean I can model so little of what it's about. Life is a very terrible thing, mostly, with points of wonder and beauty. Most of what makes it terrible, though, is simply that there's so much of it, blaring in through the five senses. In my loft, alone, in the middle of the night, it comes blaring in. So I work at culling enough from it to construct moments of order.””

Samuel R. Delaney

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The writer struggles to capture reality’s overwhelming sensory overload, seeking order by extracting meaningful fragments.

**In simple terms:** Writing tries to bring order to chaotic sensory experience.

Key Takeaway

Focus on extracting moments of clarity.

Themes

creativity perception order chaos meaning

Mood

contemplative introspective melancholic

Type

literary philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- nighttime writing
- solo reflection
- creative drafting
- mindfulness practice

Key Concepts

existentialism sensory overload artistic process

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you decide which sensory details become part of your work?
- What methods help you transform chaos into structure?

A Different Perspective

The quote may romanticize suffering as necessary for art, overlooking the value of unfiltered experience.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Five senses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-senses/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Middle of the night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-night/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [Oh, isn't life a terrible thing, thank God?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/oh-isn-t-life-a-terrible-thing-thank-god/)

[Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/)

> [Appealing to the five senses is the feature that will always set writing apart from the visual media. A good writer will tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/appealing-to-the-five-senses-is-the-feature-that-will-always-set/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

> [“Most scientists who study human perception no longer assume that we have five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. The current number ranges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-louv/most-scientists-who-study-human-perception-no-longer-assume-that-we/)

[Richard Louv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-louv/)

> [“We talk a lot about the five senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. I would add one more…imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-adamson/we-talk-a-lot-about-the-five-senses-vision-hearing-smell-taste-and/)

[Wes Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-adamson/)

> [Creation is a book proclaiming the Creator. It is a book of beauty that our intellect reads, but through the passageways of our five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dubay/creation-is-a-book-proclaiming-the-creator-it-is-a-book-of-beauty/)

[Thomas Dubay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dubay/)

> [We live on the leash of our senses. There is no way in which to understand the world without first detecting it through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/we-live-on-the-leash-of-our-senses-there-is-no-way-in-which-to/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Though there was no sound, there was a change. The atmosphere, which had gone tense at my accusation, relaxed. I wondered how I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/though-there-was-no-sound-there-was-a-change-the-atmosphere-which-had/)

[Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/)

> [The soul is that part of us that is immortal. It existed before the personality was born and it will exist after the personality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/the-soul-is-that-part-of-us-that-is-immortal-it-existed-before-the/)

[Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/)

> [We have been educated to such a fine - or dull - point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/we-have-been-educated-to-such-a-fine-or-dull-point-that-we-are/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [Printed prose is historically a most peculiar, almost an aberrant way of telling stories, and by far the most inherently anesthetic: It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/printed-prose-is-historically-a-most-peculiar-almost-an-aberrant-way/)

[John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/)

> [It's about human imagination and curiosity. What's out there? What's in the great beyond? What exists at levels we can't see with our five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cameron/it-s-about-human-imagination-and-curiosity-what-s-out-there-what-s-in/)

[James Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cameron/)

> [The Five Senses of the Soul: Intuition…Peace…Foresigh t...Trust ... Empathy… ¥](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-five-senses-of-the-soul-intuition-peace-foresigh-t-trust-empathy/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognise and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/we-have-five-senses-in-which-we-glory-and-which-we-recognise-and/)

[Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/)

> [Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hervey-allen/only-the-middle-aged-have-all-their-five-senses-in-the-keeping-of/)

[Hervey Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hervey-allen/)

> [Modern science is under no obligation to satisfy the expectations of your five senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/modern-science-is-under-no-obligation-to-satisfy-the-expectations-of/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

## More by Samuel R. Delaney

> [“I don’t know whether Asimov realized he was saying this as well, but as an old historical materialist, if only as an afterthought, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/i-don-t-know-whether-asimov-realized-he-was-saying-this-as-well-but/)

Samuel R. Delaney

> [“I am mad again, he thought. Tears brimmed. He swallowed in a tightened throat. I don't want to be. I'm tired, I'm tired and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/i-am-mad-again-he-thought-tears-brimmed-he-swallowed-in-a-tightened/)

Samuel R. Delaney

Explore all 3 Samuel R. Delaney quotes

## More Beauty quotes

> [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

> [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/)

[Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/)

> [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/)

[Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/)

> [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/)

[Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/)

> [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/)

> [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/)

[Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/)

> [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/)

[Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/)

> [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/)

[Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/)

> [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/)

[Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/)

> [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/)

Tumblr

> [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/)

[Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/)

> [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/)

[Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/)

[Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“What I write [. . .] doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean I can model so little of what it's about. Life is a very terrible thing, mostly, with points of wonder and beauty. Most of what makes it terrible, though, is simply that there's so much of it, blaring in through the five senses. In my loft, alone, in the middle of the night, it comes blaring in. So I work at culling enough from it to construct moments of order.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Samuel R. Delaney"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-mean-i-can-model-so-little-of/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beauty"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-mean-i-can-model-so-little-of/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/samuel-r-delaney-84834_beauty_what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-m_1972914.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“What I write [. . .] doesn't seem to be . . . true. I mean I can model so little of what it's about. Life is…” — Samuel R. Delaney",
                "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 R. Delaney",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delaney/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“What I write [. . .]...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-mean-i-can-model-so-little-of/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delaney/what-i-write-doesn-t-seem-to-be-true-i-mean-i-can-model-so-little-of/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
