--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The writer is either a practicing recluse…" description: "\"The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. Usually both.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47f/susan-sontag-332_guilt_the-writer-is-either-a-practicing-reclus_3041956.jpg" --- # The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent… ![“The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. Usually both.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47f/susan-sontag-332_guilt_the-writer-is-either-a-practicing-reclus_3041956.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47f/susan-sontag-332_guilt_the-writer-is-either-a-practicing-reclus_3041956.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47f/susan-sontag-332_guilt_the-writer-is-either-a-practicing-reclus_3041956.jpg) > “The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. Usually both.” [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. Writers are often reclusive or delinquent, guilt‑ridden, or both, suggesting complex creative identities. **In simple terms:** Writers are isolated or conflicted. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the paradox of creative life. Themes creativity isolation guilt Mood analytical philosophical Type essay critical When to use this quote - writing process - mental health - art criticism - authorial persona Key Concepts artistic identity psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does isolation affect creativity? - Can guilt be productive? A Different Perspective May overgeneralize writer experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The gay community has a strength and identity that has been lost by dispossessed, guilt-ridden, straight men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-herring/the-gay-community-has-a-strength-and-identity-that-has-been-lost-by/) [Richard Herring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-herring/) > [We have built our identities in many respects based on the guilt-ridden stories we have been told about our creation. For women, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gioconda-belli/we-have-built-our-identities-in-many-respects-based-on-the-guilt/) [Gioconda Belli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gioconda-belli/) > [~I don't always have a lot of energy, but my kids almost always revitalize me. Of course like any working mom, sometimes I'm guilt-ridden.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-couric/i-don-t-always-have-a-lot-of-energy-but-my-kids-almost-always/) [Katie Couric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-couric/) > [I'm always guilt-ridden if I give a bad performance. If you're doing a theatrical run, your day has to be geared to that show.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-hancock/i-m-always-guilt-ridden-if-i-give-a-bad-performance-if-you-re-doing-a/) [Sheila Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-hancock/) > [“Tied up a lot of women, have you?" He raised one eyebrow, whatever that meant. "A bit odd, are you?" She was being sarcastic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ivory/tied-up-a-lot-of-women-have-you-he-raised-one-eyebrow-whatever-that/) [Judith Ivory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ivory/) > [“rules that left people guilt-ridden, exhausted, and confused were not really from God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/rules-that-left-people-guilt-ridden-exhausted-and-confused-were-not/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [“among guilt-ridden criminals, first diagnosed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/among-guilt-ridden-criminals-first-diagnosed/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [“A guilty conscience pushed me to try harder—which I did for what seemed like a tremendous amount of wasted time, staring bug-eyed at uncooperative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/a-guilty-conscience-pushed-me-to-try-harder-which-i-did-for-what/) [Richelle E. 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I am that cordless screwdriver that has to charge for twenty hours to earn ten minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-am-something-of-a-recluse-by-nature-i-am-that-cordless-screwdriver/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [The perfect mystic is not an ecstatic devotee lost in contemplation of Oneness, nor a saintly recluse shunning all commerce with mankind, but "the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-sa-id-abul-khayr/the-perfect-mystic-is-not-an-ecstatic-devotee-lost-in-contemplation/) Abu-Sa'id Abul-Khayr > ["Gun-wielding recluse gunned down by local police" isn't the epitaph I want. I am hoping for "Witnesses reported the sound up to two hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nicoll/gun-wielding-recluse-gunned-down-by-local-police-isn-t-the-epitaph-i/) [James Nicoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nicoll/) > [“The Just and the unJust inhabiting the same body, so close you can’t pry us apart, but we are not friends. He speaks, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-just/the-just-and-the-unjust-inhabiting-the-same-body-so-close-you-can-t/) [Ward Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-just/) ## 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? 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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 Guilt quotes > [Never fight on the wrong side; you might win but the burden of guilt is more than a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilian-salan/never-fight-on-the-wrong-side-you-might-win-but-the-burden-of-guilt/) [Lilian Salan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilian-salan/) > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [When the Lord Jesus Christ became my surety . . . He went to Calvary's cross, and all my guilt was charged against Him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-allen-ironside/when-the-lord-jesus-christ-became-my-surety-he-went-to-calvary-s/) [Henry Allen Ironside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-allen-ironside/) > [“Even in the miserable guilt we feel over our beastlike insensitivity, the glory of God shines. If God were not gloriously desirable, why would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/even-in-the-miserable-guilt-we-feel-over-our-beastlike-insensitivity/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Regrets are just a way for the foolish and the guilty to pass the time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gensoumaden-saiyuki/regrets-are-just-a-way-for-the-foolish-and-the-guilty-to-pass-the-time/) Gensoumaden Saiyuki > [(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-f-we-are-going-to-be-kind-let-it-be-out-of-simple-generosity-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Money should not be in the hands of individuals; otherwise it will create this problem of being burdened with guilt. And money can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/money-should-not-be-in-the-hands-of-individuals-otherwise-it-will/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Food ... love ... mother ... career ... Live every day to the fullest. Partake of the four basic guilt groups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-guisewite/food-love-mother-career-live-every-day-to-the-fullest-partake-of-the/) [Cathy Guisewite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-guisewite/) > [Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anger-was-better-than-tears-better-than-grief-better-than-guilt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Phil and Hannah had decided that Christian guilt was better than bad math”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-janzen/phil-and-hannah-had-decided-that-christian-guilt-was-better-than-bad/) [rhoda janzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-janzen/) > [No amount of guilt can solve the past & No amount of anxiety can change the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananymous/no-amount-of-guilt-can-solve-the-past-no-amount-of-anxiety-can-change/) [Ananymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananymous/) > [The essence of having fun is enjoying without guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-essence-of-having-fun-is-enjoying-without-guilt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) [Browse all 2,943 Guilt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. 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