--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There can be no more thrilling idea of…" description: "\"There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy that connecting with someone through the agency of the written word. Here we meet, on the page, naked a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/062/will-self-2296_age_there-can-be-no-more-thrilling-idea-of-i_1111050.jpg" --- # There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy that… ![“There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy that connecting with someone through the agency of the written word. Here we meet, on the page, naked and unadorned: shorn of class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and nationality. The reader I seek is a tautology, for he/she is simply exactly…” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/062/will-self-2296_age_there-can-be-no-more-thrilling-idea-of-i_1111050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/062/will-self-2296_age_there-can-be-no-more-thrilling-idea-of-i_1111050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/062/will-self-2296_age_there-can-be-no-more-thrilling-idea-of-i_1111050.jpg) > “There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy that connecting with someone through the agency of the written word. Here we meet, on the page, naked and unadorned: shorn of class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and nationality. The reader I seek is a tautology, for he/she is simply exactly the person who wants to read what I have written...” [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intimacy arises when readers encounter a writer stripped of social identifiers, focusing on pure ideas. **In simple terms:** Writing creates deep connection beyond identity. Key Takeaway Embrace vulnerability in writing. Themes identity intimacy vulnerability literature Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing workshops - literary criticism - personal essays - online forums Key Concepts humanism authenticity reader‑author bond Questions to Reflect On - How does removing identity markers change your reading? - What risks arise from assuming universality? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic biases that affect interpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Agency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agency/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Connecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connecting/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Idea Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-intimacy-2960360/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy/) [Intimacy Connecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy-connecting-2960359/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Naked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naked/) [Nationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nationality/) [Page Naked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/page-naked-1233005/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Reader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reader/) [Reader Seek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reader-seek-2960361/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Tautology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tautology/) [Thrilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrilling/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) [Written word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-word/) ## Related quotes > [Here we meet, on the page, naked and unadorned: shorn of class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/here-we-meet-on-the-page-naked-and-unadorned-shorn-of-class-race/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“She had never been so affected by the idea of intimacy, but there was something about his eyes; something warm, and gentle even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-morgan/she-had-never-been-so-affected-by-the-idea-of-intimacy-but-there-was/) [Elizabeth Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-morgan/) > [In my fiction, I pursue this idea of intimacy, but also - philosophically, politically - I just feel like that's the interesting question for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-rooney/in-my-fiction-i-pursue-this-idea-of-intimacy-but-also-philosophically/) [Sally Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-rooney/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [The two sides of the equation are the same. We have a tautology. The definition is meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macbeth/the-two-sides-of-the-equation-are-the-same-we-have-a-tautology-the/) [Norman Macbeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macbeth/) > [“Are designations congruent with things? Is language the adequate expression of all realities? It is only by means of forgetfulness that man can ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-neitzsche/are-designations-congruent-with-things-is-language-the-adequate/) [Friedrich Neitzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-neitzsche/) > [“Scientists study only those aspects of the universe that it is within their gift to study: what is observable; what is measurable and amenable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-tudge/scientists-study-only-those-aspects-of-the-universe-that-it-is-within/) [Colin Tudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-tudge/) > [A tautology's truth is certain, a proposition's possible, a contradiction's impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-tautology-s-truth-is-certain-a-proposition-s-possible-a/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“The only way up is up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/the-only-way-up-is-up/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [The principles of logic and mathematics are true universally simply because we never allow them to be anything else. And the reason for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/the-principles-of-logic-and-mathematics-are-true-universally-simply/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Once the last trace of emotion has been eradicated, nothing remains of thought but absolute tautology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/once-the-last-trace-of-emotion-has-been-eradicated-nothing-remains-of/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [All mathematics is tautology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/all-mathematics-is-tautology/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Phrases like Worship Service or Service of Worship are tautologies. To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/phrases-like-worship-service-or-service-of-worship-are-tautologies-to/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The positivists have a simple solution: the world must be divided into that which we can say clearly and the rest, which we had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/the-positivists-have-a-simple-solution-the-world-must-be-divided-into/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) ## More by Will Self > [As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) [Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy that connecting with someone through the agency of the written word. Here we meet, on the page, naked and unadorned: shorn of class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and nationality. 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