--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The meeting of writer and reader is an…" description: "\"The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and it properly takes place in private.\" — Wallace Stegner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png" --- # The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and… ![“The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and it properly takes place in private.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png) > “The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and it properly takes place in private.” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer‑reader connection is a private, intimate exchange that occurs away from the public eye. **In simple terms:** Reading and writing are private, personal acts. Key Takeaway Value intimate literary moments. Themes literature privacy intimacy Mood contemplative quiet Type artistic reflective When to use this quote - book clubs - personal journals - online forums - author events Key Concepts communication interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How does privacy affect your reading experience? - What makes a literary exchange feel intimate? A Different Perspective Public exposure can dilute intimacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) [Intimate Act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate-act-1478512/) [Meeting Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meeting-writer-1281408/) [Meetings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meetings/) [Private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private/) [Reader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reader/) [Reader Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reader-intimate-1811209/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I do think there's a relationship between a book and a reader that's more intimate, in many ways, than the relationship between an audience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/i-do-think-there-s-a-relationship-between-a-book-and-a-reader-that-s/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [ I believe that, when \[meeting of writer and reader\] happens and the reader goes out into the world the next day, there's some alteration… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-believe-that-when-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-happens-and-the/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Praying together is the most INTIMATE act a couple can engage in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/praying-together-is-the-most-intimate-act-a-couple-can-engage-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Reading is an intimate act, perhaps more intimate than any other human act. I say that because of the prolonged (or intense) exposure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-brodkey/reading-is-an-intimate-act-perhaps-more-intimate-than-any-other-human/) [Harold Brodkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-brodkey/) > [ The relationship between book and reader is intimate, at best a kind of love affair, and first loves are famously tenacious. \[...\] First love… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-miller/the-relationship-between-book-and-reader-is-intimate-at-best-a-kind/) [Laura Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-miller/) > [“Paradoxically, that large screen in the cavernous, crowded room creates intimacy. And violence is an intimate act. If you are punching someone, or if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-k-holm/paradoxically-that-large-screen-in-the-cavernous-crowded-room-creates/) [D.K. Holm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-k-holm/) > [“his mouth finally reached the apex between my thighs, I cried out, forcing myself to shut up quickly because I was so afraid he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-white/his-mouth-finally-reached-the-apex-between-my-thighs-i-cried-out/) [Lily White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-white/) > [“She placed the soapy cloth on his shoulder, briskly stroking over smooth skin, trying not to notice how firm the muscles beneath her fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/she-placed-the-soapy-cloth-on-his-shoulder-briskly-stroking-over/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [Poetry is an intimate act. It's about bringing forth something that's inside you--whether it is a memory, a philosophical idea, a deep love for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/poetry-is-an-intimate-act-it-s-about-bringing-forth-something-that-s/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [“Jasper’s boot tapped against the side of her foot. She met his gaze with raised brows. Look at me, he mouthed with darkened eyes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/jasper-s-boot-tapped-against-the-side-of-her-foot-she-met-his-gaze/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sharing-food-with-another-human-being-is-an-intimate-act-that-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The protection of private property does more than promote market efficiency; it enhances the level of human freedom in the most intimate and personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen-epstein/the-protection-of-private-property-does-more-than-promote-market/) [Richard Allen Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen-epstein/) > [The claim of the State Socialists, however, that this right would not be exercised in matters pertaining to the individual in the more intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-claim-of-the-state-socialists-however-that-this-right-would-not/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Sloppy Firsts perfectly captures the turbulent roller-coaster ride that is being a teenager. This is an (at times) intimate, painfully honest peek at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atoosa-rubenstein/sloppy-firsts-perfectly-captures-the-turbulent-roller-coaster-ride/) [Atoosa Rubenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atoosa-rubenstein/) > [I don't like to meddle in my private affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-don-t-like-to-meddle-in-my-private-affairs/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. 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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and it properly takes place in private.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stegner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-intimate-act-and-it-properly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-intimate-act-and-it-properly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/wallace-stegner-1352_books_the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-i_166145.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The meeting of writer and reader is an intimate act, and it properly takes place in private.” — Wallace Stegner", "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": "Wallace Stegner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The meeting of writer and reader...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-intimate-act-and-it-properly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-meeting-of-writer-and-reader-is-an-intimate-act-and-it-properly/#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 } } ] } ```