--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's deprivation that makes people…" description: "\"It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have it in them to be a writer.\" — William Maxwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png" --- # It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have… ![“It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have it in them to be a writer.” quote by William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png) > “It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have it in them to be a writer.” [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deprivation can spark creativity, as lack of comfort pushes individuals toward expressive outlets like writing. **In simple terms:** Need can inspire artistic work. Key Takeaway Use constraints to fuel creativity. Themes creativity necessity artistic expression Mood inspirational analytical Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - problem solving Key Concepts psychology motivation literature Questions to Reflect On - How does scarcity shape your creative process? - Can comfort coexist with artistic drive? A Different Perspective Excess comfort may also foster creativity; deprivation isn’t the only catalyst. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deprivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprivation/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [As the twentieth century draws to a close it has become obvious that material yardsticks alone cannot serve as an adequate measure of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/as-the-twentieth-century-draws-to-a-close-it-has-become-obvious-that/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [What I expect from writers-and from myself as a writer-is to articulate a complex view of things. To incite us to be more compassionate.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/what-i-expect-from-writers-and-from-myself-as-a-writer-is-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [People only become writers if they can't find the one book they've always wanted to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/people-only-become-writers-if-they-can-t-find-the-one-book-they-ve/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I could never write about the sort of people John Cheever or John Updike or even Margaret Atwood write about. I don't mean I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/i-could-never-write-about-the-sort-of-people-john-cheever-or-john/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [I don't think writers should have writer's block. I think they should write. Imagine you were a bus driver and you said, 'I've got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-scully/i-don-t-think-writers-should-have-writer-s-block-i-think-they-should/) [Sean Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-scully/) > [Actors should be writers. While a writer puts the story on paper, an actor puts it on screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-maniratnam/actors-should-be-writers-while-a-writer-puts-the-story-on-paper-an/) [Suhasini Maniratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-maniratnam/) > [I want to be one of those people, be they writers, poets, musicians, who leaves clues for the next generation. The really good people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-casablancas/i-want-to-be-one-of-those-people-be-they-writers-poets-musicians-who/) [Julian Casablancas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-casablancas/) > [Country people give me more than writers, and country places than towns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/country-people-give-me-more-than-writers-and-country-places-than-towns/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What happens to the people who became writers because yakking and tweeting and bragging felt to them like intolerably shallow forms of social engagement?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/what-happens-to-the-people-who-became-writers-because-yakking-and/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Writing is not a job description. A great deal of it is luck. Don't do it if you are not a gambler because a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/writing-is-not-a-job-description-a-great-deal-of-it-is-luck-don-t-do/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [It's not that I don't enjoy other people, but what I find with writers is this back and forth. And also, there's no need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/it-s-not-that-i-don-t-enjoy-other-people-but-what-i-find-with-writers/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I feel like people who become writers are people who have been saved by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-like-people-who-become-writers-are-people-who-have-been-saved/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Most people who are writers go through periods when they can't write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/most-people-who-are-writers-go-through-periods-when-they-can-t-write/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Some people are writers and don't ever want to be on camera, some people act and not write - I like writing words for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-conover/some-people-are-writers-and-don-t-ever-want-to-be-on-camera-some/) [Adam Conover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-conover/) > [Writers don't want to appear to be stupid. I don't know - maybe people become writers so that they can prove that they're not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/writers-don-t-want-to-appear-to-be-stupid-i-don-t-know-maybe-people/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) ## More by William Maxwell > [“There is nothing so difficult to arrive at as the nature and personality of one's parents. Death, about which so much mystery is made,is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/there-is-nothing-so-difficult-to-arrive-at-as-the-nature-and/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [It was lovely when you found students who responded to things you were enthusiastic about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/it-was-lovely-when-you-found-students-who-responded-to-things-you/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [Reading is rapture (or if it isn't, I put the book down meaning to go on with it later, and escape out the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/reading-is-rapture-or-if-it-isn-t-i-put-the-book-down-meaning-to-go/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [If you turn the imagination loose like a hunting dog, it will often return with the bird in its mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/if-you-turn-the-imagination-loose-like-a-hunting-dog-it-will-often/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [I had inadvertently walked through a door that I shouldn’t have gone through and couldn’t get back to the place I hadn’t meant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/i-had-inadvertently-walked-through-a-door-that-i-shouldn-t-have-gone/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“Whether they are part of a home or home is a part of them is not a question children are prepared to answer. Having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/whether-they-are-part-of-a-home-or-home-is-a-part-of-them-is-not-a/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/happiness-is-the-light-on-the-water-the-water-is-cold-and-dark-and/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [Love, even of the most ardent and soul-destroying kind, is never caught by the lens of the camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/love-even-of-the-most-ardent-and-soul-destroying-kind-is-never-caught/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [The nail doesn't choose the time or the circumstances in which it is drawn to the magnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/the-nail-doesn-t-choose-the-time-or-the-circumstances-in-which-it-is/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“If your first plan fails, try another!” – Napoleon Hill If”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/if-your-first-plan-fails-try-another-napoleon-hill-if/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [The reason life is so strange is that so often people have no choice,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/the-reason-life-is-so-strange-is-that-so-often-people-have-no-choice/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [If I had had to write only about imaginary people, I would have had to close up my typewriter. I wrote about my life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/if-i-had-had-to-write-only-about-imaginary-people-i-would-have-had-to/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“Without the heavy set aristocratic man snoring away on his side of the bed, without the fresh-eyed child whose hair ribbon needs retying; without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/without-the-heavy-set-aristocratic-man-snoring-away-on-his-side-of/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“For most people, having company for more than three of four days is a serious mistake, the equivalent to sawing a large hole in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/for-most-people-having-company-for-more-than-three-of-four-days-is-a/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“But he was careful. He didn’t make a simple remark without rehearsing it beforehand. And he continually removed the expression from his face lest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/but-he-was-careful-he-didn-t-make-a-simple-remark-without-rehearsing/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) [Explore all 46 William Maxwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) ## More Deprivation quotes > [Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/deprivation-is-for-me-what-daffodils-were-for-wordsworth/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“SOME OF THE HARDEST parts of parenting never change—like sleep deprivation, which, according to researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, can in some respects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/some-of-the-hardest-parts-of-parenting-never-change-like-sleep/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“We have created a manic world nauseous with the pursuit of material wealth. Many also bear their cross of imagined deprivation, while their fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/we-have-created-a-manic-world-nauseous-with-the-pursuit-of-material/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Capitalism has created a situation called scarcity. And that scarcity is not natural, it's socially induced. Along with that sense of scarcity, or feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/capitalism-has-created-a-situation-called-scarcity-and-that-scarcity/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [My mother suffers mental health problems and has a learning deprivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-rayner/my-mother-suffers-mental-health-problems-and-has-a-learning/) [Angela Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-rayner/) > [What government has been doing, we've got major programmes now, of billions of pounds, which are directed by central government into these areas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-prescott/what-government-has-been-doing-we-ve-got-major-programmes-now-of/) [John Prescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-prescott/) > [“Suicide is nothing, but an act of depriving the soul from it's very right to liberation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aniruddha-sastikar/suicide-is-nothing-but-an-act-of-depriving-the-soul-from-it-s-very/) [Aniruddha Sastikar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aniruddha-sastikar/) > [Many low-income children face chronic stress from nutritional deprivation or persistent violence at home or in the community. By addressing their medical, emotional and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-redlener/many-low-income-children-face-chronic-stress-from-nutritional/) [Irwin Redlener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-redlener/) > [Inactivity and deprivation of all accustomed stimulus is not rest; it is a preparation for the tomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/inactivity-and-deprivation-of-all-accustomed-stimulus-is-not-rest-it/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [As soon as you lay down, that's when the most bizarre things start coming out of her mouth. 'Goodnight, baby.' 'Do you think we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ferrara/as-soon-as-you-lay-down-that-s-when-the-most-bizarre-things-start/) [Adam Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ferrara/) > [State governments seek local remedies for the globally fabricated deprivations and miseries in vain - just as the individuals-by-the-decree-of-fate (read: by the impact of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/state-governments-seek-local-remedies-for-the-globally-fabricated/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Discrimination and multiple deprivations of human rights are also frequently part of the problem, sentencing entire populations to poverty... It is surely a matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/navi-pillay/discrimination-and-multiple-deprivations-of-human-rights-are-also/) Navi Pillay > [This lifestyle is not about deprivation. It's about living inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/this-lifestyle-is-not-about-deprivation-it-s-about-living-inspired/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation; your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/strong-convictions-are-the-secret-of-surviving-deprivation-your/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) [Browse all 258 Deprivation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprivation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have it in them to be a writer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Maxwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-writers-if-they-have-it-in-them-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deprivation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-writers-if-they-have-it-in-them-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/william-maxwell-14213_deprivation_it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-write_2375118.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's deprivation that makes people writers, if they have it in them to be a writer.” — William Maxwell", "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 Maxwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's deprivation that makes people writers,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-writers-if-they-have-it-in-them-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/it-s-deprivation-that-makes-people-writers-if-they-have-it-in-them-to/#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 } } ] } ```