--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was twenty I was in love with…" description: "\"When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I didn't know enough to know when people were letting words get in their way. Now I like the w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/wallace-stegner-1352_curtains_when-i-was-twenty-i-was-in-love-with-wor_217532.jpg" --- # When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I… ![“When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I didn't know enough to know when people were letting words get in their way. Now I like the words to disappear, like a transparent curtain.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/wallace-stegner-1352_curtains_when-i-was-twenty-i-was-in-love-with-wor_217532.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/wallace-stegner-1352_curtains_when-i-was-twenty-i-was-in-love-with-wor_217532.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/wallace-stegner-1352_curtains_when-i-was-twenty-i-was-in-love-with-wor_217532.jpg) > “When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I didn't know enough to know when people were letting words get in their way. Now I like the words to disappear, like a transparent curtain.” [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 author reflects on moving from a love of language to valuing silence, recognizing that words can obstruct truth and connection. **In simple terms:** From loving words to preferring silence for clarity. Key Takeaway Embrace silence when words cloud meaning. Themes communication clarity self-awareness Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing - teaching - personal relationships - public speaking Key Concepts language transparency mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - When do you let words block your understanding? - How can silence improve your communication? A Different Perspective Silence can hinder expression if overused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [Slang moves on so fast that most new words disappear soon after they are coined. But there is always something that sticks behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/slang-moves-on-so-fast-that-most-new-words-disappear-soon-after-they/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [I love these airtcles. How many words can a wordsmith smith?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacy/i-love-these-airtcles-how-many-words-can-a-wordsmith-smith/) Kacy > [“No, I’m not ever letting you go.” His words were raw with emotion. “I’ll let you leave here right now, but I’m not giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurelin-paige/no-i-m-not-ever-letting-you-go-his-words-were-raw-with-emotion-i-ll/) [Laurelin Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurelin-paige/) > [“Annie, do you believe in god?” “Of course not,” she answers. “Do you?” “No. No, not really.” She looks at me. “But a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-foster/annie-do-you-believe-in-god-of-course-not-she-answers-do-you-no-no/) Emily Foster > [Letting words get to you won't get you anywhere. If someone's giving you a hard time or ruining your self-esteem walk away. It may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/letting-words-get-to-you-won-t-get-you-anywhere-if-someone-s-giving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For me, the monologue was the favorite thing I had done in radio. It was based on writing, but in the end it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/for-me-the-monologue-was-the-favorite-thing-i-had-done-in-radio-it/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I am not as concerned about choosing the right words as I am in letting the words flow naturally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/i-am-not-as-concerned-about-choosing-the-right-words-as-i-am-in/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [Writing for me always requires trickery. Tricking myself into sitting down, letting words tumble out until you find the good ones. It's sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/writing-for-me-always-requires-trickery-tricking-myself-into-sitting/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, "Get thee behind me." I don't think real novelists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/there-were-several-points-where-i-would-kind-of-turn-to-the-book-and/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I don't believe in letting my words speak for me, I let my actions speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carmouche/i-don-t-believe-in-letting-my-words-speak-for-me-i-let-my-actions/) [Liz Carmouche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carmouche/) > [The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. 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Like words-you take a word and by the time you've finished with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/my-bag-is-approaching-something-and-taking-it-to-another-place-like/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I don't like words coming out of a character's mouth that I adore because not only is he a little bit duplicitous but he's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-downey-jr/i-don-t-like-words-coming-out-of-a-character-s-mouth-that-i-adore/) [Robert Downey, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-downey-jr/) > [“She looks like there are no words inside her at all, like language has taken a vacation from her life and left her alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-miller/she-looks-like-there-are-no-words-inside-her-at-all-like-language-has/) Meredith Miller ## 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 Curtains quotes > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. 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The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stoppingshort at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-sugar-maple-is-remarkable-for-its-clean-ankle-the-groves-of-these/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I have these lacy shirts that look kind of like my grandma's curtains that I wear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/borns/i-have-these-lacy-shirts-that-look-kind-of-like-my-grandma-s-curtains/) [Borns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/borns/) > [It is well for young men to have a model, but let them draw the curtain over it while they are painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/it-is-well-for-young-men-to-have-a-model-but-let-them-draw-the/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. 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