--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a terrible, mean American…" description: "\"There is a terrible, mean American resentment toward a writer who tries to do many things.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/susan-sontag-332_mean_there-is-a-terrible-mean-american-resent_641249.jpg" --- # There is a terrible, mean American resentment toward a… ![“There is a terrible, mean American resentment toward a writer who tries to do many things.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/susan-sontag-332_mean_there-is-a-terrible-mean-american-resent_641249.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/susan-sontag-332_mean_there-is-a-terrible-mean-american-resent_641249.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/susan-sontag-332_mean_there-is-a-terrible-mean-american-resent_641249.jpg) > “There is a terrible, mean American resentment toward a writer who tries to do many things.” [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. Critiques societal disdain for creators who pursue multiple disciplines, highlighting a cultural bias. **In simple terms:** Society often resents multi‑talented writers. Key Takeaway Value interdisciplinary work. Themes art culture bias Mood critical thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - publishing - academic circles - creative collaborations Key Concepts multidisciplinary creativity intellectual diversity Questions to Reflect On - Why do we fear the jack‑of‑all‑trades? - How can we celebrate versatility? A Different Perspective May overlook depth for breadth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Resentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resentment/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [When a writer tries to copy another writer, it's doomed to fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/when-a-writer-tries-to-copy-another-writer-it-s-doomed-to-fail/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [“In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable... The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/in-utter-loneliness-a-writer-tries-to-explain-the-inexplicable-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [When a writer tries to explain too much, he's out of time before he begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/when-a-writer-tries-to-explain-too-much-he-s-out-of-time-before-he/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [When an older writer tries to tell a younger writer through a review what kind of career she should be pursuing, it tends to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/when-an-older-writer-tries-to-tell-a-younger-writer-through-a-review/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [When one writer tries to silence another, he silences every writer-and in the end he also silences himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-leavitt/when-one-writer-tries-to-silence-another-he-silences-every-writer-and/) [David Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-leavitt/) > [In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/in-utter-loneliness-a-writer-tries-to-explain-the-inexplicable/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [A fight is going on inside me," said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mass/a-fight-is-going-on-inside-me-said-an-old-man-to-his-son-it-is-a/) [Wendy Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mass/) > [“The city centre was still crawling with Christmas shoppers looking to add to their already burgeoning piles of gifts. To Scott they were like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-city-centre-was-still-crawling-with-christmas-shoppers-looking-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Youre too beautiful to hold on to any resentment, bitterness & anger. Forgive yourself & Let it go!!! Be strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-housham/youre-too-beautiful-to-hold-on-to-any-resentment-bitterness-anger/) [Ricardo Housham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-housham/) > [“Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/nationalism-is-relativist-since-the-only-truth-is-the-resentment-we/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-sectaries-of-a-persecuted-religion-depressed-by-fear-animated/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [No woman ever yet either reasoned or acted long together consequentially; but some little thing, some love, some resentment, somepresent momentary interest, some supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/no-woman-ever-yet-either-reasoned-or-acted-long-together/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [“What I’ve noticed being here is that many English people are in awe of America but also deeply resent it,” Obinze added. “Perfectly true,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/what-i-ve-noticed-being-here-is-that-many-english-people-are-in-awe/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## 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 Mean quotes > [That we have the vote means nothing. 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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/) > [A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-home-is-not-a-museum-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-furnished-with-picasso/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. 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