--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If they had said my writing wasn't good…" description: "\"If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair enough, that's an opinion. But to say it's too complex is to insult the intelligence of the so-cal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/tanith-lee-3374_comeback_if-they-had-said-my-writing-wasn-t-good_156852.jpg" --- # If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair… ![“If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair enough, that's an opinion. But to say it's too complex is to insult the intelligence of the so-called young.” quote by Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/tanith-lee-3374_comeback_if-they-had-said-my-writing-wasn-t-good_156852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/tanith-lee-3374_comeback_if-they-had-said-my-writing-wasn-t-good_156852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/tanith-lee-3374_comeback_if-they-had-said-my-writing-wasn-t-good_156852.jpg) > “If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair enough, that's an opinion. But to say it's too complex is to insult the intelligence of the so-called young.” [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticisms about complexity can dismiss the intelligence of younger audiences, highlighting generational bias. **In simple terms:** Calling work too complex can insult younger readers. Key Takeaway Respect diverse intellectual capacities. Themes criticism complexity generational bias intelligence Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical reflective When to use this quote - publishing - education - creative writing Key Concepts literary criticism audience perception Questions to Reflect On - How to balance depth and accessibility? - What assumptions about age affect critique? A Different Perspective Complexity can alienate some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comeback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comeback/) [Complex Insult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complex-insult-1730016/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Insult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insult/) [Insult Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insult-intelligence-432605/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Said Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-writing-241345/) [Say Complex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-complex-1730017/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Wasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-wasn-1035822/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [“We don’t use the word ‘intelligence’ with software. We regard that as a naive idea. We say that it’s ‘complex.’ Which means that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-don-t-use-the-word-intelligence-with-software-we-regard-that-as-a/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“In my normal world, cars do not go off the road and explode. Please, do not insult my intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-j-cales/in-my-normal-world-cars-do-not-go-off-the-road-and-explode-please-do/) [K.J. Cales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-j-cales/) > [“If you say that you never lie in life, you honestly insult my intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/if-you-say-that-you-never-lie-in-life-you-honestly-insult-my/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [A lie is an affront to the soul, as well as an insult to the intelligence of the person to whom one lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/a-lie-is-an-affront-to-the-soul-as-well-as-an-insult-to-the/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [I don't need to curse & shout at you, I will insult you with my Intelligence's & sense of humor!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/i-don-t-need-to-curse-shout-at-you-i-will-insult-you-with-my/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“I'm a child of Athena," she insisted. "And this is an insult to my intelligence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-m-a-child-of-athena-she-insisted-and-this-is-an-insult-to-my/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“A TV can insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/a-tv-can-insult-your-intelligence-but-nothing-rubs-it-in-like-a/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I wont insult your intelligence; its pretty obvious you dont possess any!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wont-insult-your-intelligence-its-pretty-obvious-you-dont-possess/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some people will insult your intelligence by suddenly being nice or nicer to you once you make it … or they think you have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-will-insult-your-intelligence-by-suddenly-being-nice-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Nearly every lawsuit is an insult to the intelligence of both plaintiff and defendant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/nearly-every-lawsuit-is-an-insult-to-the-intelligence-of-both/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) > [Love? A mere biological passion, fundamentally the same whatever the unknown and slightly varying personal equations. Love comes to seem a physiological insult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-a-mere-biological-passion-fundamentally-the-same-whatever-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would love to insult your intelligence, but the problem is you do not have any to begin with!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-love-to-insult-your-intelligence-but-the-problem-is-you-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When someone isn’t smart enough to express their frustration, they use dirty words. Those are words that describe a lack of intelligence. Smart people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-someone-isn-t-smart-enough-to-express-their-frustration-they-use/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [If you insult my intelligence or character, be prepared to be on the receiving end of the ultimate cold shoulder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-insult-my-intelligence-or-character-be-prepared-to-be-on-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would have liked to insult you, but with your intelligence you wouldn't get offended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-have-liked-to-insult-you-but-with-your-intelligence-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Tanith Lee > [No one more cynical than an idealist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/no-one-more-cynical-than-an-idealist/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [The humble were the elect of God. Did not the priests teach so, in their gemmed, kingly robes, from their towering pulpits?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/the-humble-were-the-elect-of-god-did-not-the-priests-teach-so-in/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“Having told of so much beauty, how is it possible to tell of her? There are no words left on the earth in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/having-told-of-so-much-beauty-how-is-it-possible-to-tell-of-her-there/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [As a child, my mother told me lots of fairy stories, many her own invention. She, too, tended to reverse the norm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/as-a-child-my-mother-told-me-lots-of-fairy-stories-many-her-own/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“Often misunderstood, Dionysus is far more than a wine deity. 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This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/in-the-usual-way-i-submitted-manuscripts-to-publishers-this-was-not/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [Whatever the hell I am, I am Me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/whatever-the-hell-i-am-i-am-me/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“Louisa beheld the grounds and house with the calm pleasure of one who has seen nothing, been nowhere, expects everything, and has little imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/louisa-beheld-the-grounds-and-house-with-the-calm-pleasure-of-one-who/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“Live and let love. Love and let go. Go live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/live-and-let-love-love-and-let-go-go-live/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [Pirates have always fascinated me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/pirates-have-always-fascinated-me/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“All the Scarabae—all but one—were crowded in the garden. They watched her. Their grim old faces gave away nothing. Like elderly kiddies at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/all-the-scarabae-all-but-one-were-crowded-in-the-garden-they-watched/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“She did this not out of fear of him, but out of pity. Because she had come to see the ultimate terrible truth behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/she-did-this-not-out-of-fear-of-him-but-out-of-pity-because-she-had/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [Writing is writing, and stories are stories. Perhaps the only true genres are fiction and nonfiction. And even there, who can be sure?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/writing-is-writing-and-stories-are-stories-perhaps-the-only-true/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“Tanaquil gently toed the peeve. "I'll unfasten the window. Jump out to the lower roof and run." "Stay and bite," said the peeve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/tanaquil-gently-toed-the-peeve-i-ll-unfasten-the-window-jump-out-to/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [The bitterness of joy lies in the knowledge that is cannot last. 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I mean that you're going to throw away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/i-think-it-takes-about-a-million-words-to-make-a-writer-i-mean-that/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [We have invented a new human right here - the right to return home after a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-have-invented-a-new-human-right-here-the-right-to-return-home/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Cancer reminds me of a very bad but tenacious performer who, although no one wants to see, insists on doing an encore, having a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-harper/cancer-reminds-me-of-a-very-bad-but-tenacious-performer-who-although/) [Valerie Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-harper/) > [Whether the issue was black political power or nuclear power, Scott-Heron didn't mince words. His comeback record, 'I'm New Here,' doesn't mince words either,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hermes/whether-the-issue-was-black-political-power-or-nuclear-power-scott/) [Will Hermes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hermes/) > [To be honest, my videos are for myself. I didn't look at social media as a vehicle for my comeback.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sameera-reddy/to-be-honest-my-videos-are-for-myself-i-didn-t-look-at-social-media/) [Sameera Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sameera-reddy/) > [Some people don't like the 'comeback' because that suggests they went somewhere, which they didn't. That isn't what I mean. In my mind, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/some-people-don-t-like-the-comeback-because-that-suggests-they-went/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [I don't have any particular desire to see words making a comeback. 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