--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't even know for years that people…" description: "\"I didn't even know for years that people ever even got paid for this, because they don't teach you that in school. They don't say Shakespeare got a che..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/walter-dean-myers-2582_because_i-didn-t-even-know-for-years-that-people_1432105.jpg" --- # I didn't even know for years that people ever even got… ![“I didn't even know for years that people ever even got paid for this, because they don't teach you that in school. They don't say Shakespeare got a check.” quote by Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/walter-dean-myers-2582_because_i-didn-t-even-know-for-years-that-people_1432105.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/walter-dean-myers-2582_because_i-didn-t-even-know-for-years-that-people_1432105.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/walter-dean-myers-2582_because_i-didn-t-even-know-for-years-that-people_1432105.jpg) > “I didn't even know for years that people ever even got paid for this, because they don't teach you that in school. They don't say Shakespeare got a check.” [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Financial aspects of creative work are often omitted from education, obscuring reality. **In simple terms:** Schools ignore artists’ earnings. Key Takeaway Learn the economics of creative professions. Themes education economics creativity Mood informative pragmatic reflective Type educational career When to use this quote - writing workshops - art school curricula - freelance contracts Key Concepts cultural economics career planning Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing earnings affect your creative choices? - What can schools teach about artistic livelihoods? A Different Perspective Focusing solely on money can diminish artistic passion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) ## Related quotes > [“First thing's first: I've got to check on my car. She must be missing me!”.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/first-thing-s-first-i-ve-got-to-check-on-my-car-she-must-be-missing-me/) [J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) > [“Most people say that Shakespeare rocked merely because most people say that Shakespeare rocked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-people-say-that-shakespeare-rocked-merely-because-most-people/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I think Shakespeare got drunk after he finished King Lear. That he had a ball writing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-auchincloss/i-think-shakespeare-got-drunk-after-he-finished-king-lear-that-he-had/) [Louis Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-auchincloss/) > [I went to Yale's drama school for theater, so we did tons of Shakespeare; then, I got out of school and said, 'OK, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-connolly/i-went-to-yale-s-drama-school-for-theater-so-we-did-tons-of/) [Kristen Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-connolly/) > [“i heard someone tried the monkeys-on-typewriters bit trying for the plays of W. Shakespeare, but all they got was the collected works of Francis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hirst/i-heard-someone-tried-the-monkeys-on-typewriters-bit-trying-for-the/) Bill Hirst > [When I got my first check I was thinking my mother and father didn't make this probably in their lifetime. It's real amazing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwyane-wade/when-i-got-my-first-check-i-was-thinking-my-mother-and-father-didn-t/) [Dwyane Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwyane-wade/) > [I spent three months working on music videos, working eighteen-hour days, put it out, got half-a-million views... and got a check in the mail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-conte/i-spent-three-months-working-on-music-videos-working-eighteen-hour/) [Jack Conte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-conte/) > [I could cover the gamut. It's cool though you go in for an hour, read the script, leave and you got a check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mic-geronimo/i-could-cover-the-gamut-it-s-cool-though-you-go-in-for-an-hour-read/) [Mic Geronimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mic-geronimo/) > [When I was in high school, I wrote a play that I sent off to a competition that took second place. I got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-wyle/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-wrote-a-play-that-i-sent-off-to-a/) [Noah Wyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-wyle/) > [Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks -- I got the sun in the morning and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-berlin/got-no-check-books-got-no-banks-still-i-d-like-to-express-my-thanks-i/) [Irving Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-berlin/) > [I just got my check guess I'm going to spend it all on me I'm worth it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/i-just-got-my-check-guess-i-m-going-to-spend-it-all-on-me-i-m-worth-it/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [When I got my first check from 'Rack City,' I was like, 'Damn, I can make this much money making beats?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustard/when-i-got-my-first-check-from-rack-city-i-was-like-damn-i-can-make/) Mustard > [You could say Shakespeare is so extraordinary precisely because he was so ordinary. He had all the usual anxieties and understandings of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-callow/you-could-say-shakespeare-is-so-extraordinary-precisely-because-he/) [Simon Callow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-callow/) > [This is not writing at all. Indeed, I could say that Shakespeare surpasses literature altogether, if I knew what I meant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/this-is-not-writing-at-all-indeed-i-could-say-that-shakespeare/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“They say Shakespeare invented the internal monologue." Oh, I am very familiar with the internal monologue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/they-say-shakespeare-invented-the-internal-monologue-oh-i-am-very/) [Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/) ## More by Walter Dean Myers > [There is a crisis involving reading in certain communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/there-is-a-crisis-involving-reading-in-certain-communities/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [When we think of war, the tendency is to picture young soldiers only in their military roles. To a large extent this dehumanizes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/when-we-think-of-war-the-tendency-is-to-picture-young-soldiers-only/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/the-most-difficult-idea-to-reconcile-in-war-is-the-notion-that/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/he-was-trying-to-convince-himself-that-he-wasn-t-guilty/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [Within the black community, roughly 60 percent of children are born to single moms. Moms don't have the emotional wherewithal to deal with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/within-the-black-community-roughly-60-percent-of-children-are-born-to/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“pain is the only real emotion. Everything else can be taken away. Love,happiness,joy can always be taken away. Even old sadness can be dissipated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/pain-is-the-only-real-emotion-everything-else-can-be-taken-away-love/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“People who want to hate you can find something in you they don't like. They have a talent for doing that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/people-who-want-to-hate-you-can-find-something-in-you-they-don-t-like/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/one-of-the-lessons-learned-during-the-vietnam-war-was-that-the/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [I am very much interested in getting parents to read to children, and trying to get people mentoring children. If I can do both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/i-am-very-much-interested-in-getting-parents-to-read-to-children-and/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [We need to tell kids flat out: reading is not optional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/we-need-to-tell-kids-flat-out-reading-is-not-optional/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/we-need-to-tell-young-people-that-america-was-built-by-men-and-women/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“Sometimes everybody touches in the dark. You touch to see what you can stand to touch, what you can to feel with your fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/sometimes-everybody-touches-in-the-dark-you-touch-to-see-what-you-can/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [Yeah, that's funny, huh?...Something hurts you real bad and you get used to it. Like being hurt becomes part of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/yeah-that-s-funny-huh-something-hurts-you-real-bad-and-you-get-used/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“Love came to me, but it Just wasn't for me. It touched my heart and left it Lying on the shore, and Love smiled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/love-came-to-me-but-it-just-wasn-t-for-me-it-touched-my-heart-and/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“That night the mosquitoes ate us up. I had bites all over my body. Back home I thought mosquitoes never bit black people. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/that-night-the-mosquitoes-ate-us-up-i-had-bites-all-over-my-body-back/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) [Explore all 158 Walter Dean Myers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) ## More Because quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. 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I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I believe in taxation and health care that is outside the usual libertarian mandate, because I don't want people to have to suffer. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/i-believe-in-taxation-and-health-care-that-is-outside-the-usual/) [Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [Sometimes, when full and in fear that I will continue to eat unwanted food just because it's staring at me, I will place my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-nichols/sometimes-when-full-and-in-fear-that-i-will-continue-to-eat-unwanted/) [Rachel Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-nichols/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' 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