--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would rather have written Fables in…" description: "\"I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.\" — William Allen White" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg" --- # I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be… ![“I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.” quote by William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg) > “I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.” [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker values creative expression over political power, implying that artistic legacy feels more meaningful than holding office. **In simple terms:** Choosing art over authority. Key Takeaway Creative work can outlast political tenure. Themes Art vs. Power Legacy Individualism Freedom of Expression Mood Reflective Wry Defiant Type Aphorism Satire When to use this quote - Writing a novel - Political campaign - Teaching literature - Personal branding - Social commentary Key Concepts Fables Slang Presidency Writing Practical Applications - Literary criticism - Political satire Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to leave a lasting impact? - How do personal passions shape public roles? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [Slang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slang/) ## Related quotes > [I was able to make up lots of portementos, literally hundreds and hundreds of words... See, I find that mine don't have any meanings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-fraser/i-was-able-to-make-up-lots-of-portementos-literally-hundreds-and/) [Elizabeth Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-fraser/) > [“The default digital world tone is one of hyperactive friendliness, artificial empathy, emoji-based validation, dopamine-rich feedback loops, toxic positivity, and veiled cruelty. They assume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sov8840/the-default-digital-world-tone-is-one-of-hyperactive-friendliness/) Sov8840 > [My parents were hippies, and the story is that they went through a dictionary looking for a beautiful word to name me. They nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/my-parents-were-hippies-and-the-story-is-that-they-went-through-a/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Are you okay? Did that dickwad do or say something out of pocket to you?” Her eyes slid open. “Dickwad?” she murmured. “Have you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-wesley/are-you-okay-did-that-dickwad-do-or-say-something-out-of-pocket-to/) Jamie Wesley > [“The inability to correctly perceive reality is often responsible for humans' insane behavior. And every time they substitute an all-purpose, sloppy slang word for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-inability-to-correctly-perceive-reality-is-often-responsible-for/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“On the whole I try to keep Modesty and Willie in timeless settings, which is why I avoid all the latest slang and in-words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-donnell/on-the-whole-i-try-to-keep-modesty-and-willie-in-timeless-settings/) Peter O'Donnell > [Slang has different functions: many of the words we use are playful and a lot are tribal - we speak the same way as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/slang-has-different-functions-many-of-the-words-we-use-are-playful/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-use-a-colloquialism-or-a-slang-word-or-phrase-simply-use-it-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I use 'wicked' all the time! It's part of my slang! When something's really rad, I'm like, 'That's wicked.' It has many meanings but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-maxwell/i-use-wicked-all-the-time-it-s-part-of-my-slang-when-something-s/) [Stella Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-maxwell/) > [Such is life, my fellow-mummers-just like a poor player that bluffs and feints his hour upon the stage, and then cheapens down to mere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-furphy/such-is-life-my-fellow-mummers-just-like-a-poor-player-that-bluffs/) Joseph Furphy > [The downtrodden are the great creators of slang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-downtrodden-are-the-great-creators-of-slang/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [My life changed forever when I found out the word slang was actually slang for shortened language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramandeep-singh/my-life-changed-forever-when-i-found-out-the-word-slang-was-actually/) [Ramandeep Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramandeep-singh/) > [There's an old little jingle: 'The chief use of slang is to show that you're one of the gang.' What that means is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/there-s-an-old-little-jingle-the-chief-use-of-slang-is-to-show-that/) [David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/) > [I have no desire to be hip to the latest black slang and do the stereotypical black thing. I was a Richard Pryor fan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklyn-ajaye/i-have-no-desire-to-be-hip-to-the-latest-black-slang-and-do-the/) [Franklyn Ajaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklyn-ajaye/) > [You don't usually get a compound word where the first part is a slang thing and the second part is a rather ordinary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/you-don-t-usually-get-a-compound-word-where-the-first-part-is-a-slang/) [David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/) ## More by William Allen White > [“Every great movement needs an agitator. Every leader of spiritual ideals need a John the Baptist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/every-great-movement-needs-an-agitator-every-leader-of-spiritual/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Peace without justice is tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/peace-without-justice-is-tyranny/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-am-not-afraid-of-tomorrow-for-i-have-seen-yesterday-and-i-love-today/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [There is no insanity so devastating in man's life as utter sanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/there-is-no-insanity-so-devastating-in-man-s-life-as-utter-sanity/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Whenever a free man is in chains we are threatened also. Whoever is fighting for liberty is defending America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/whenever-a-free-man-is-in-chains-we-are-threatened-also-whoever-is/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Live for today. Multitudes of people have failed to live for today… What they have had within their grasp today they have missed entirely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/live-for-today-multitudes-of-people-have-failed-to-live-for-today/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Advertising is the genie which is transforming America into a place of comfort, luxury and ease for millions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/advertising-is-the-genie-which-is-transforming-america-into-a-place/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/liberty-is-the-only-thing-you-cannot-have-unless-you-are-willing-to/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [In education, we are striving not to teach youth to make a living, but to make a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/in-education-we-are-striving-not-to-teach-youth-to-make-a-living-but/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [In the Barbecue is any four footed animal -- be it mouse or mastodon -- whose dressed carcass is roasted whole... at its best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/in-the-barbecue-is-any-four-footed-animal-be-it-mouse-or-mastodon/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Liberty is the only thing you can't have unless you give it to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/liberty-is-the-only-thing-you-can-t-have-unless-you-give-it-to-others/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [If our colleges and universities do not breed men who riot, who rebel, who attack life with all the youthful vim and vigor, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/if-our-colleges-and-universities-do-not-breed-men-who-riot-who-rebel/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Dip your pen into your arteries and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/dip-your-pen-into-your-arteries-and-write/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Greatness, generally speaking, is an unusual quantity of a usual quality grafted upon a common man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/greatness-generally-speaking-is-an-unusual-quantity-of-a-usual/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) [Explore all 45 William Allen White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) ## More Fables quotes > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/no-theory-is-too-false-no-fable-too-absurd-no-superstition-too/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [“ The Prodigal Son They gave the deep end of their heart--a hue of crimson red, They whispered their desire and offered up their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/the-prodigal-son-they-gave-the-deep-end-of-their-heart-a-hue-of/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Imagine an American Hans Christian Andersen, conceive of the Brothers Grimm living in Missouri, and you will approximate Howard Schwartz, a fable-maker and fable-gatherer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/imagine-an-american-hans-christian-andersen-conceive-of-the-brothers/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“Fables from before the Anaheiming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fables-from-before-the-anaheiming/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ We are full of dreams \[...\] We long for the unattainable. We believe in the nonsense of fables. There is no pure love; there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/we-are-full-of-dreams-we-long-for-the-unattainable-we-believe-in-the/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [Equals make the best friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/equals-make-the-best-friends/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [The smaller the mind, the greater the ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/the-smaller-the-mind-the-greater-the-ego/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [ \[Jorge Luis Borges\] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/jorge-luis-borges-had-short-stories-and-i-was-trying-to-learn-how-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/history-fades-into-fable-fact-becomes-clouded-with-doubt-and/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [My parents read to me a lot as a kid, and I started writing very early, probably spurred on by Aesop's fables. Then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/my-parents-read-to-me-a-lot-as-a-kid-and-i-started-writing-very-early/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my brother, because he has shut his own temple doors and recites fables merely of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/everywhere-i-am-hindered-of-meeting-god-in-my-brother-because-he-has/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [For kind of sophisticated art I'm interested in, the larger structural rebuke has to be so subtle that it has to be distributed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/for-kind-of-sophisticated-art-i-m-interested-in-the-larger-structural/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Not stories told by wolf or man to frighten children, of Wolfbane and of werewolves, of grasht and goblins and of silly vampires, fables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-clement-davies/not-stories-told-by-wolf-or-man-to-frighten-children-of-wolfbane-and/) [David Clement-Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-clement-davies/) [Browse all 258 Fables quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Allen White" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fables" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b7/william-allen-white-14722_fables_i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-sl_72933.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.” — William Allen White", "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": "William Allen White", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would rather have written Fables...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/#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 } } ] } ```