--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I transcribe my text with no concern for…" description: "\"“I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. In the years when I discovered the Abbé Vallet volume, there was a widespread conviction that one..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg" --- # I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. In… ![“I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. In the years when I discovered the Abbé Vallet volume, there was a widespread conviction that one should write only out of a commitment to the present, in order to change the world. Now, after ten years or more, the man of letters (restored to…” quote by Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg) > ““I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. In the years when I discovered the Abbé Vallet volume, there was a widespread conviction that one should write only out of a commitment to the present, in order to change the world. Now, after ten years or more, the man of letters (restored to his loftiest dignity) can happily write out of pure love of writing. And so I now feel free to tell, for sheer narrative pleasure, the story of Adso of Melk, and I am comforted and consoled in finding it immeasurably remote in time (now that the waking of reason has dispelled all the monsters that its sleep had generated), gloriously lacking in any relevance for our day, atemporally alien to our hopes and our certainties.”” [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing for its own sake, without urgency, allows pure creative joy and timeless storytelling. **In simple terms:** Writes for love, not immediacy. Key Takeaway Write for pleasure, not pressure. Themes creativity timelessness literary freedom Mood contemplative introspective scholarly Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Academic writing - fiction writing - personal essays - creative projects Key Concepts Narrative pleasure philosophy of writing historical fiction Questions to Reflect On - Why write if not for the present? - How does timelessness affect reader connection? 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We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-merrill/he-puts-his-right-hand-lightly-on-the-cup-i-put-my-left-leaving-the/) [James Merrill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-merrill/) > [“IPA is used to transcribe the sound of a word, regardless of its spelling. This is important to keep in mind when examining English,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-peterson/ipa-is-used-to-transcribe-the-sound-of-a-word-regardless-of-its/) [David J. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-peterson/) > [Writers don't write, they read and transcribe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs-2/writers-don-t-write-they-read-and-transcribe/) [William S Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs-2/) > [whenever I read a passage that moves me, I transcribe it in my diary, hoping my fingers might learn what excellence feels like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/whenever-i-read-a-passage-that-moves-me-i-transcribe-it-in-my-diary/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [“The longer i live, the more urgent it seems to me to endure and transcribe the whole dictation of existence up to its end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-longer-i-live-the-more-urgent-it-seems-to-me-to-endure-and/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [A professional man of letters, especially if he is much at war with unscrupulous enemies, is naturally jealous of his privacy; he will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-raleigh/a-professional-man-of-letters-especially-if-he-is-much-at-war-with/) [Walter Raleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-raleigh/) > [Everyone in their life has his own particular way of expressing life's purpose - the lawyer his eloquence, the painter his palette, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-bartali/everyone-in-their-life-has-his-own-particular-way-of-expressing-life/) [Gino Bartali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-bartali/) > [“The contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-contents-of-a-man-s-letters-are-more-valuable-than-the-contents/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [You must not suppose, because I am a man of letters, that I never tried to earn an honest living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-must-not-suppose-because-i-am-a-man-of-letters-that-i-never-tried/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man of letters never objects to a slum. He sharpens his pen there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-moore/a-man-of-letters-never-objects-to-a-slum-he-sharpens-his-pen-there/) [George A. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-moore/) > [Bierce radiates brilliancy, and perhaps no other man of letters ever had a more ready command of condensed expression. For him, each word has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-markham/bierce-radiates-brilliancy-and-perhaps-no-other-man-of-letters-ever/) [Edwin Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-markham/) > [In a man’s letters his soul lies naked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/in-a-man-s-letters-his-soul-lies-naked/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-man-of-letters-merely-by-reading-a-phrase-can-estimate-exactly-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The man of science, like the man of letters, is too apt to view mankind only in the abstract, selecting in his consideration only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-man-of-science-like-the-man-of-letters-is-too-apt-to-view-mankind/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) ## More by Umberto Eco > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Followers of the occult believe in only what they already know, and in those things that confirm what they have already learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/followers-of-the-occult-believe-in-only-what-they-already-know-and-in/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“This has nothing to do with realism (even if it explains also realism). A completely real world can be constructed, in which asses fly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/this-has-nothing-to-do-with-realism-even-if-it-explains-also-realism/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“…there’s nothing in this world that demands more caution than the truth. To tell the truth is like leeching one’s own heart...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-s-nothing-in-this-world-that-demands-more-caution-than-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved. 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Anything, however trifling, may be of use one day. What matters is to know something that others don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/listening-doesn-t-mean-trying-to-understand-anything-however-trifling/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [They say that a cat, if it falls from a window and hits its nose, can lose its sense of smell and then, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/they-say-that-a-cat-if-it-falls-from-a-window-and-hits-its-nose-can/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [There are magic moments, involving great physical fatigue and intense motor excitement, that produce visions of people known in the past. As I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-magic-moments-involving-great-physical-fatigue-and-intense/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [All poets write bad poetry. Bad poets publish them, good poets burn them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/all-poets-write-bad-poetry-bad-poets-publish-them-good-poets-burn-them/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [There are four kinds of people in this world: cretins, fools, morons, and lunatics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-four-kinds-of-people-in-this-world-cretins-fools-morons-and/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Explore all 600 Umberto Eco quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More Change the world quotes > [If you learn something that changes you, you've made progress. If you learn something that changes others, you've helped change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanie-lane/if-you-learn-something-that-changes-you-you-ve-made-progress-if-you/) [Lanie Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanie-lane/) > [If you wanted to put the world to rights, who should you begin with: yourself or others?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/if-you-wanted-to-put-the-world-to-rights-who-should-you-begin-with/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Paul Gray - he believed in my art, and I believed in his music. Together, we decided to change the world, and that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-crahan/paul-gray-he-believed-in-my-art-and-i-believed-in-his-music-together/) [Shawn Crahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-crahan/) > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Some women are meant to change the world, while others are meant to hold it together. And then there are those of us who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/some-women-are-meant-to-change-the-world-while-others-are-meant-to/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Curiously, the righteous Pharisees had little historical impact, save for a brief time in a remote corner of the Roman Empire. But Jesus' disciples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/curiously-the-righteous-pharisees-had-little-historical-impact-save/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [“if i am not in the world simply to adapt to it, but rather transform it, and if it is not possible to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/if-i-am-not-in-the-world-simply-to-adapt-to-it-but-rather-transform/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [I don't like lyrics to be overbearing. I like them to say something. But I'm not trying to change the world overnight. Something simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rodgers/i-don-t-like-lyrics-to-be-overbearing-i-like-them-to-say-something/) [Paul Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rodgers/) > [Larry Kramer wisely realized so early on that to change the world, people have to know you. If they know you and see that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-murphy/larry-kramer-wisely-realized-so-early-on-that-to-change-the-world/) [Ryan Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-murphy/) > [“It takes a female to have a baby, It takes a woman to raise a child, It takes a mother to raise them correctly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/it-takes-a-female-to-have-a-baby-it-takes-a-woman-to-raise-a-child-it/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Don't underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/don-t-underestimate-the-power-of-your-vision-to-change-the-world/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) > [“I've been waiting for you a long time, Alina" He said. 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What if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/live-each-day-as-if-it-s-our-last-that-was-the-conventional-advice/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) [Browse all 2,043 Change the world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-the-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. In the years when I discovered the Abbé Vallet volume, there was a widespread conviction that one should write only out of a commitment to the present, in order to change the world. Now, after ten years or more, the man of letters (restored to his loftiest dignity) can happily write out of pure love of writing. And so I now feel free to tell, for sheer narrative pleasure, the story of Adso of Melk, and I am comforted and consoled in finding it immeasurably remote in time (now that the waking of reason has dispelled all the monsters that its sleep had generated), gloriously lacking in any relevance for our day, atemporally alien to our hopes and our certainties.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for-timeliness-in-the-years-when/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Change the world" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for-timeliness-in-the-years-when/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/umberto-eco-313_change-the-world_i-transcribe-my-text-with-no-concern-for_638761.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I transcribe my text with no concern for timeliness. 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