--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything I've ever done, in the writing…" description: "\"Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it.\" — Toni Morrison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg" --- # Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been… ![“Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it.” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg) > “Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it.” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing should expand expression, not limit it, fostering broader communication. **In simple terms:** Expand, don’t restrict expression. Key Takeaway Seek to broaden articulation. Themes literature communication creativity Mood encouraging reflective Type statement advice When to use this quote - teaching - publishing - creative writing workshops Key Concepts expansive writing artistic freedom Questions to Reflect On - How can writers maintain openness? - What limits your articulation? A Different Perspective Commercial pressures may constrain expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [ When it is going well, it is the best job \[writing\] in the world. For those few hours, you are god, in control of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/when-it-is-going-well-it-is-the-best-job-writing-in-the-world-for/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [The danger in writing about a world you don't know very well is that you can get lost in it, and sometimes I'll end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/the-danger-in-writing-about-a-world-you-don-t-know-very-well-is-that/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [My grief is that the publishing world, the book writing world is an extraordinary shoddy, dirty, dingy world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/my-grief-is-that-the-publishing-world-the-book-writing-world-is-an/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [People who write books - they live in their own world as they're writing. But people who are doing shows or big movies -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-white/people-who-write-books-they-live-in-their-own-world-as-they-re/) [Mike White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-white/) > [Not writing is as important as writing - go out into the world and remember how interesting it, and the people in it, are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/not-writing-is-as-important-as-writing-go-out-into-the-world-and/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [All the time she writing the world had continued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/all-the-time-she-writing-the-world-had-continued/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [When I'm stuck in my writing, the world is amiss. If I'm eating a sandwich, it's an unsettled sandwich. If I'm in the shower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-rosenberg/when-i-m-stuck-in-my-writing-the-world-is-amiss-if-i-m-eating-a/) [Melissa Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-rosenberg/) > [A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a "profile" in the writing world, but that's so hard, and so boring most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/a-lot-of-people-work-really-diligently-to-maintain-a-profile-in-the/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-john-harrison/every-moment-of-a-science-fiction-story-must-represent-the-triumph-of/) [M. John Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-john-harrison/) > [I think writing for a world one has invented can be infinitely more interesting than writing for the world we've all inherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-holmes/i-think-writing-for-a-world-one-has-invented-can-be-infinitely-more/) [Rupert Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-holmes/) > [I go through periods of not writing. Until there's something I can't find in the world that I need, so I write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-gottlieb/i-go-through-periods-of-not-writing-until-there-s-something-i-can-t/) [Daphne Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-gottlieb/) > [When you get immersed in whatever you're writing, the world does suddenly get so filtered through what you're writing. And then of course what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/when-you-get-immersed-in-whatever-you-re-writing-the-world-does/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I think you want to be writing about the world that we live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/i-think-you-want-to-be-writing-about-the-world-that-we-live-in/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I feel like I'll be writing World War 2 music the rest of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/i-feel-like-i-ll-be-writing-world-war-2-music-the-rest-of-my-life/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Explore all 774 Toni Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## More Articulation quotes > [People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/people-like-me-write-because-otherwise-we-are-pretty-inarticulate-our/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Often in writing programs, articulation and clarity are more important than what you actually say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/often-in-writing-programs-articulation-and-clarity-are-more-important/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mcclary/the-point-of-recapitulation-in-the-first-movement-of-beethoven-s/) [Susan McClary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mcclary/) > [The theoretical recognition of the split-space of enunciation may open the way to conceptualising an international culture, based not on the exoticism of multiculturalism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homi-k-bhabha/the-theoretical-recognition-of-the-split-space-of-enunciation-may/) Homi K. Bhabha > [“Punctuation is to words as cartilage is to bone, permitting articulation and bearing stress.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennard/punctuation-is-to-words-as-cartilage-is-to-bone-permitting/) John Lennard > [Mass communication communicates massively: its language lacks precise articulation and avoids demanding terms; it argues for the kind of behavior in life which will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/mass-communication-communicates-massively-its-language-lacks-precise/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [There's a very basic human, non-verbal aspect to our need to make music and use it as part of our human expression. It doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-towner-williams/there-s-a-very-basic-human-non-verbal-aspect-to-our-need-to-make/) [John Towner Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-towner-williams/) > [The poet cannot invent new words every time, of course. He uses the words of the tribe. But the handling of the word, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/the-poet-cannot-invent-new-words-every-time-of-course-he-uses-the/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [She was fluent in four languages and yet her fists against the rusted hood were the fullest articulation of her defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-marra/she-was-fluent-in-four-languages-and-yet-her-fists-against-the-rusted/) [Anthony Marra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-marra/) > [The New Testament writers I think conceive of their inspired Scripture writings as flushing out, bringing to articulation, expounding and so on the climactic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/the-new-testament-writers-i-think-conceive-of-their-inspired/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [For me, places are articulations of 'natural' and social relations, relations that are not fully contained within the place itself. So, first, places are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-massey/for-me-places-are-articulations-of-natural-and-social-relations/) [Doreen Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-massey/) > [By failing to read or listen to poets, society dooms itself to inferior modes of articulation, those of the politician, the salesman, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/by-failing-to-read-or-listen-to-poets-society-dooms-itself-to/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-bengis/words-are-a-form-of-action-capable-of-influencing-change/) [Ingrid Bengis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-bengis/) > [This idea that things are designed to go back to nature or industry for ever which is our articulation of these two metabolisms are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/this-idea-that-things-are-designed-to-go-back-to-nature-or-industry/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) Browse all 77 Articulation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing-world-has-been-to-expand/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Articulation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing-world-has-been-to-expand/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/toni-morrison-271_articulation_everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing_2918150.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it.” — Toni Morrison", "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": "Toni Morrison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything I've ever done, in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing-world-has-been-to-expand/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/everything-i-ve-ever-done-in-the-writing-world-has-been-to-expand/#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 } } ] } ```