--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That sort of reception - where everything…" description: "\"That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated to the world of celebrity - makes me dream of becoming a more recalcitrant, harder to assimila..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg" --- # That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated… ![“That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated to the world of celebrity - makes me dream of becoming a more recalcitrant, harder to assimilate writer.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg) > “That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated to the world of celebrity - makes me dream of becoming a more recalcitrant, harder to assimilate writer.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Celebrity culture assimilates everything, inspiring a desire to resist conformity in writing. **In simple terms:** Resist being assimilated like celebrity culture. Key Takeaway Embrace independent creative voice. Themes celebrity conformity creativity Mood reflective defiant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing practice - cultural critique - personal branding Key Concepts media studies literary theory Questions to Reflect On - How can writers stay authentic? - What are the risks of non‑conformity? A Different Perspective Resistance can lead to isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assimilate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilate/) [Assimilate Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilate-writer-4602060/) [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Recalcitrant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-recalcitrant-4602062/) [Harder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harder/) [Harder Assimilate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harder-assimilate-4602061/) [Recalcitrant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recalcitrant/) [Reception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reception/) [Reception Assimilated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reception-assimilated-4602063/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Photographs are a way of imprisoning reality, understood as recalcitrant, inaccessible; of making it stand still. Or they enlarge a reality that is felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-are-a-way-of-imprisoning-reality-understood-as-2/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Advising Mrs. Harris was the least I could do," David said smoothly. "After all, she was the one who brought me and my late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-jeffries/advising-mrs-harris-was-the-least-i-could-do-david-said-smoothly/) [Sabrina Jeffries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-jeffries/) > [The basic idea that incentives can be used to motivate behavior is a powerful one. It works for employees, and it has a clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-oster/the-basic-idea-that-incentives-can-be-used-to-motivate-behavior-is-a/) [Emily Oster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-oster/) > [I wonder if he really could rationalize what I did to him, really treat betrayal like the slight transgression of a recalcitrant business partner.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/i-wonder-if-he-really-could-rationalize-what-i-did-to-him-really/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [It's amazing how much time one can spend in a garden doing nothing at all. I sometimes think, in fact, that the nicest part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-garmey/it-s-amazing-how-much-time-one-can-spend-in-a-garden-doing-nothing-at/) [Jane Garmey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-garmey/) > [... until both employers' and workers' groups assume responsibility for chastising their own recalcitrant children, they can vainly bay the moon about "ignorant" and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-barnett-gilson/until-both-employers-and-workers-groups-assume-responsibility-for/) [Mary Barnett Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-barnett-gilson/) > [But now his dry and silent grieving for his lost wife must end, for there she stood, the fierce, recalcitrant, and fragile stranger, forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/but-now-his-dry-and-silent-grieving-for-his-lost-wife-must-end-for/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The recalcitrant forces in the historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-recalcitrant-forces-in-the-historical-drama-have-a-power-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [A scientist sets out to conquer nature through knowledge - external nature, external knowledge. By these means he may split the atom and achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/a-scientist-sets-out-to-conquer-nature-through-knowledge-external/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [The observation that species are amazingly conservative and static entities throughout long periods of time has all the qualities of the emperor's new clothes:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/the-observation-that-species-are-amazingly-conservative-and-static/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [“affectation of assuming everything was alive and potentially recalcitrant,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/affectation-of-assuming-everything-was-alive-and-potentially/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [I used to think I had no will to power. Now I perceive that I vented it on thoughts, rather than people. Conquering an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-used-to-think-i-had-no-will-to-power-now-i-perceive-that-i-vented/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Words are as recalcitrant as circus animals, and the unskilled trainer can crack his whip at them in vain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-brenan/words-are-as-recalcitrant-as-circus-animals-and-the-unskilled-trainer/) [Gerald Brenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-brenan/) > [ \[The current governing judicial philosophy is:\] If you want something passionately enough, it is guaranteed by the Constitution. No need to fiddle around gathering… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-current-governing-judicial-philosophy-is-if-you-want-something/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [Disobedience was man's Original Virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/disobedience-was-man-s-original-virtue/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Assimilate quotes > [First, I was opposed to gay marriage because it seemed like one more way that gays were wanting to assimilate. When I realized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/first-i-was-opposed-to-gay-marriage-because-it-seemed-like-one-more/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [“It's a fact— everyone is ignorant in some way or another. Ignorance is our deepest secret. And it is one of the scariest things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/it-s-a-fact-everyone-is-ignorant-in-some-way-or-another-ignorance-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I've deliberately studied many things that I know, going in, I won't be able to assimilate. I read Plato, St. Thomas, the mystics, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-ameche/i-ve-deliberately-studied-many-things-that-i-know-going-in-i-won-t-be/) [Don Ameche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-ameche/) > [“The process of trying to assimilate into an existing category in many ways runs counter to efforts to produce radical or revolutionary results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-y-davis/the-process-of-trying-to-assimilate-into-an-existing-category-in-many/) [Angela Y. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-y-davis/) > [“If you aren't destroying your enemies, it's because you have been conquered and assimilated, you do not even have an idea of who your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/if-you-aren-t-destroying-your-enemies-it-s-because-you-have-been/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Assimilate all you can from tradition and then say things in your own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/assimilate-all-you-can-from-tradition-and-then-say-things-in-your-own/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Assimilate this! -Worf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/star-trek/assimilate-this-worf/) [Star Trek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/star-trek/) > [I tried to assimilate and mix myself in with everybody, but I still stood out because of my mannerisms, the way I spoke, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/i-tried-to-assimilate-and-mix-myself-in-with-everybody-but-i-still/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [Especially for young POC, when we enter majority-white spaces, we feel the need to assimilate, to blend in, to prove ourselves. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-thomas/especially-for-young-poc-when-we-enter-majority-white-spaces-we-feel/) [Angie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-thomas/) > [I was far too embarrassed to share the experience of Indian food at school. As a kid, you're desperate to fit in, to assimilate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjeev-bhaskar/i-was-far-too-embarrassed-to-share-the-experience-of-indian-food-at/) [Sanjeev Bhaskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjeev-bhaskar/) > [If you continue to assimilate the values of others: Then you can not for the ever-inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-you-continue-to-assimilate-the-values-of-others-then-you-can-not/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Immigrants who voluntarily come to a country have already made a decision to assimilate to one degree or another. Probably not completely, but they've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nguyen-viet-thang/immigrants-who-voluntarily-come-to-a-country-have-already-made-a/) [Nguyen Viet Thang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nguyen-viet-thang/) > [“An ordinary teacher teaches how to accumulate information. A good teacher teaches how to assimilate information. A great teacher teaches how to stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/an-ordinary-teacher-teaches-how-to-accumulate-information-a-good/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [When Superman was originally created, by Siegel and Shuster, they were two Jewish immigrants that were desperately trying to assimilate into America. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/when-superman-was-originally-created-by-siegel-and-shuster-they-were/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [Our institutions have a potent digestion, and may in time convert and assimilate to good all elements thrown in, however originally alien.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/our-institutions-have-a-potent-digestion-and-may-in-time-convert-and/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Browse all 40 Assimilate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated to the world of celebrity - makes me dream of becoming a more recalcitrant, harder to assimilate writer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/that-sort-of-reception-where-everything-is-assimilated-to-the-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assimilate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/that-sort-of-reception-where-everything-is-assimilated-to-the-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/susan-sontag-332_assimilate_that-sort-of-reception-where-everything_2975435.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That sort of reception - where everything is assimilated to the world of celebrity - makes me dream of…” — Susan Sontag", "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": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That sort of reception - where...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/that-sort-of-reception-where-everything-is-assimilated-to-the-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/that-sort-of-reception-where-everything-is-assimilated-to-the-world/#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 } } ] } ```