--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I want to write because I have the urge…" description: "\"“I want to write because I have the urge to excel in one medium of translation and expression of life. I can't be satisfied with the colossal job of me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e99/sylvia-plath-149_life_i-want-to-write-because-i-have-the-urge_1754032.jpg" --- # I want to write because I have the urge to excel in one… ![“I want to write because I have the urge to excel in one medium of translation and expression of life. I can't be satisfied with the colossal job of merely living. Oh, no, I must order life in sonnets and sestinas and provide a verbal reflector for my 60-watt lighted head. Love is an illusion, but…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e99/sylvia-plath-149_life_i-want-to-write-because-i-have-the-urge_1754032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e99/sylvia-plath-149_life_i-want-to-write-because-i-have-the-urge_1754032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e99/sylvia-plath-149_life_i-want-to-write-because-i-have-the-urge_1754032.jpg) > ““I want to write because I have the urge to excel in one medium of translation and expression of life. I can't be satisfied with the colossal job of merely living. Oh, no, I must order life in sonnets and sestinas and provide a verbal reflector for my 60-watt lighted head. Love is an illusion, but I would willingly fall for it if I could believe in it. Now everything seems either far and sad and cold, like a piece of shale at the bottom of a canyon - or warm and near and unthinking, like the pink dogwood.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet feels a compulsive need to create art that transcends ordinary existence, seeking order and meaning through structured verse while wrestling with love’s illusion and emotional extremes. **In simple terms:** She wants to shape life with poetry, feeling ordinary life is insufficient. Key Takeaway Channel restless energy into disciplined creative practice. Themes creativity existential longing artistic discipline love emotion Mood melancholic introspective determined Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Writing poetry - coping with emotional volatility - confronting love’s doubts - seeking purpose through art Key Concepts Poetic form self‑expression illusion dualism Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance structured form with authentic feeling? - What does “order life in sonnets” mean for you? A Different Perspective The intense self‑criticism may stifle spontaneity and joy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Sonnets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-sonnets-1630629/) [Love Is An Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is-an-illusion/) [Sonnets Sestinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonnets-sestinas-1630630/) [Want Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-write/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Urge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-urge-525097/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I want to write because I have the urge to excel in one medium of translation and expression of life. 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Love is an illusion and so is Life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/awais-nisar/hate-is-real-love-is-an-illusion-and-so-is-life/) [Awais Nisar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/awais-nisar/) > [Love is an illusion! Its a highly dependency disorder of weak hearted people... People with strong hearts believe in FLIRTING . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-joslan/love-is-an-illusion-its-a-highly-dependency-disorder-of-weak-hearted/) [Azgraybebly Joslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azgraybebly-joslan/) > [Love is an illusion…a beautiful illusion.!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-ngr/love-is-an-illusion-a-beautiful-illusion/) [Simi Ngr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-ngr/) > [“Love is an illusion. It's nothing but a mirage. 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I always thought love was just something that ate away your sanity, left you with an inferiority complex, and filled you with jealousy...and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomoko-hayakawa/love-i-always-thought-love-was-just-something-that-ate-away-your/) [Tomoko Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomoko-hayakawa/) > [“I'm going to tell you something that no magazine or novel or television show will ever let on. Love wears you down. We think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-tessaro/i-m-going-to-tell-you-something-that-no-magazine-or-novel-or/) [Kathleen Tessaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-tessaro/) > [In my mind I think love is an illusion that we think exists but in reality its not really there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey/in-my-mind-i-think-love-is-an-illusion-that-we-think-exists-but-in/) [Kelsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. 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Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. 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That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. 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I can't be satisfied with the colossal job of merely living. Oh, no, I must order life in sonnets and sestinas and provide a verbal reflector for my 60-watt lighted head. Love is an illusion, but I would willingly fall for it if I could believe in it. 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