---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’ve wanted to write about them for a…"
description: "\"“I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s a tricky subject, always put off for later and perhaps worthy of a better poet, even more s..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg"
---

#  I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s…

![“I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s a tricky subject, always put off for later and perhaps worthy of a better poet, even more stunned by the world than I. But time is short. I write.” quote by Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg)

> ““I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s a tricky subject, always put off for later and perhaps worthy of a better poet, even more stunned by the world than I. But time is short. I write.””

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The poet feels urgency to write despite difficulty, fearing procrastination and the need for better expression.

**In simple terms:** Write now despite doubts.

Key Takeaway

Write despite uncertainty.

Themes

creativity urgency self‑doubt

Mood

determined introspective

Type

literary motivational

When to use this quote

- journal writing
- drafting a novel
- academic paper

Key Concepts

artistic expression time pressure

Questions to Reflect On

- What prevents you from writing?
- How can you embrace imperfection?

A Different Perspective

Perfectionism can stall progress.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Is Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-is-short/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [It's kind of a tricky subject because I had a great time in WWE. There were highs and lows, but I cut my teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-rhodes/it-s-kind-of-a-tricky-subject-because-i-had-a-great-time-in-wwe-there/)

[Cody Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-rhodes/)

> [I always wanted to write. While I was on a long surf trip, supporting myself with various day jobs, I was working hard on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/i-always-wanted-to-write-while-i-was-on-a-long-surf-trip-supporting/)

[William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/)

> [We aren't suggesting that mental instability or unhappiness makes one a better poet, or a poet at all; and contrary to the romantic notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-aren-t-suggesting-that-mental-instability-or-unhappiness-makes-one/)

[Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/)

> [“Envy won't make you a better poet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katerina-stoykova-klemer/envy-won-t-make-you-a-better-poet/)

[Katerina Stoykova Klemer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katerina-stoykova-klemer/)

> [“For me the poem and the poetry open mic isn’t about competition and it never will be. Honestly? It's wrong. The open mic is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-engelhardt/for-me-the-poem-and-the-poetry-open-mic-isn-t-about-competition-and/)

[R.M. Engelhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-engelhardt/)

> [I'd better be a poet Or lay down dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-d-better-be-a-poet-or-lay-down-dead/)

[Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/)

> [Better to have the poet's heart than brain, Feeling than song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/better-to-have-the-poet-s-heart-than-brain-feeling-than-song/)

[George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/)

> [I hear poetry whenever I turn on the radio. Eminem is a better poet than just about everybody. He's better than Billy Collins; he's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/i-hear-poetry-whenever-i-turn-on-the-radio-eminem-is-a-better-poet/)

[Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/)

> [I don't think I'd ever get any better as a poet if I didn't push myself, very deliberately, to grow. My best poems surprise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-don-t-think-i-d-ever-get-any-better-as-a-poet-if-i-didn-t-push/)

[James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/)

> [I can write for a long time on one novel and not get tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-can-write-for-a-long-time-on-one-novel-and-not-get-tired/)

[Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/)

> [I would not say I chose to write long poems on a conscious level. The long poem has been a relative constant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-not-say-i-chose-to-write-long-poems-on-a-conscious-level-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I've been trying to write for as long as I can remember. But those first fifteen years didn't produce much of great interest. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/i-ve-been-trying-to-write-for-as-long-as-i-can-remember-but-those/)

[Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/)

> [I wanted to write it long before I wrote Every Night, Josephine! I'd been thinking about it a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-susann/i-wanted-to-write-it-long-before-i-wrote-every-night-josephine-i-d/)

[Jacqueline Susann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-susann/)

> [I love to read long books. I enjoy experiencing that extension. But it's not something I feel comfortable with and not something I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-love-to-read-long-books-i-enjoy-experiencing-that-extension-but-it/)

[Shane McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mccrae/)

> [If I write too much of anything for too long, I burn out on it. So it helps to vary my output from year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/if-i-write-too-much-of-anything-for-too-long-i-burn-out-on-it-so-it/)

[Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/)

## More by Wisława Szymborska

> [“History didn’t greet us with triumphal fanfares: —it flung dirty sand into our eyes. Ahead of us lay long roads leading nowhere, poisoned wells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/history-didn-t-greet-us-with-triumphal-fanfares-it-flung-dirty-sand/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“Nothing Twice     Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/nothing-twice-nothing-can-ever-happen-twice-in-consequence-the-sorry/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“True love. Is it normal is it serious, is it practical? What does the world get from two people who exist in a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/true-love-is-it-normal-is-it-serious-is-it-practical-what-does-the/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“We have a soul at times. No one’s got it non-stop, for keeps. Day after day, year after year may pass without it. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/we-have-a-soul-at-times-no-one-s-got-it-non-stop-for-keeps-day-after/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“We live longer but less precisely and in shorter sentences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/we-live-longer-but-less-precisely-and-in-shorter-sentences/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“We, too, can divide ourselves, it’s true. / But only into flesh and a broken whisper. / Into flesh and poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/we-too-can-divide-ourselves-it-s-true-but-only-into-flesh-and-a/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“within the four walls of avalanches, I call out to Yeti. Stomping my feet for warmth on the snow the snow eternal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/within-the-four-walls-of-avalanches-i-call-out-to-yeti-stomping-my/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“Moje znaki szczególne to zachwyt i rozpacz.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/moje-znaki-szczeg-lne-to-zachwyt-i-rozpacz/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“I’ll never find out now What A. thought of me. If B. ever forgave me in the end. Why C. pretended everything was fine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/i-ll-never-find-out-now-what-a-thought-of-me-if-b-ever-forgave-me-in/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“The Real World' The real word doesn't take flight the way dreams do. No muffled voice, no doorbell can dispel it, no shriek, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/the-real-world-the-real-word-doesn-t-take-flight-the-way-dreams-do-no/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“We leven langer, maar minder nauwkeurig en in kortere zinnen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/we-leven-langer-maar-minder-nauwkeurig-en-in-kortere-zinnen/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“DESPEDIDA DE UN PAISAJE No le reprocho a la primavera que llegue de nuevo. No me quejo de que cumpla como todos los años…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/despedida-de-un-paisaje-no-le-reprocho-a-la-primavera-que-llegue-de/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“The world, whatever we might think about it terrified by its vastness and by our helplessness in the face of it, embittered by its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/the-world-whatever-we-might-think-about-it-terrified-by-its-vastness/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“-A Word On Statistics- Out of every hundred people, those who always know better: fifty-two. Unsure of every step: almost all the rest. Ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/a-word-on-statistics-out-of-every-hundred-people-those-who-always/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

> [“STARI PROFESOR Upitala sam ga za stara dobra vremena, kada smo bili veoma mladi, naivni, ushićeni, glupi, nespremni. Malo je ostalo od toga, s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/stari-profesor-upitala-sam-ga-za-stara-dobra-vremena-kada-smo-bili/)

[Wisława Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

[Explore all 26 Wisława Szymborska quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/)

## More Poetry quotes

> [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/)

[Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/)

> [The name Phenomenal Woman was inspired by Maya Angelo, who wrote 'Phenomenal Woman', a favorite poem of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meena-harris/the-name-phenomenal-woman-was-inspired-by-maya-angelo-who-wrote/)

[Meena Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meena-harris/)

> [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/)

[Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/)

> [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/)

[Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/)

> [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/)

[David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/)

> [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/)

[Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/)

> [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

> [“In the streets, the children scream, the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed,” he crooned, putting down the metal grill tongs to take my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandria-clarke/in-the-streets-the-children-scream-the-lovers-cried-and-the-poets/)

[Alexandria Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandria-clarke/)

> [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/)

[Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/)

> [You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-vendler/you-don-t-read-or-overhear-the-voice-in-the-poem-you-are-the-voice-in/)

[Helen Vendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-vendler/)

> [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/)

[Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/)

> [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/)

[anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/)

> [“Things are more like they are now...than they have EVER been before!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uncle-arnie-mamath/things-are-more-like-they-are-now-than-they-have-ever-been-before/)

Uncle Arnie Mamath

[Browse all 21,625 Poetry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s a tricky subject, always put off for later and perhaps worthy of a better poet, even more stunned by the world than I. But time is short. I write.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Wisława Szymborska"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-long-while-but-it-s-a-tricky/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Poetry"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-long-while-but-it-s-a-tricky/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/wis-awa-szymborska-19109_poetry_i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-lo_811301.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I’ve wanted to write about them for a long while, but it’s a tricky subject, always put off for later and…” — Wisława Szymborska",
                "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": "Wisława Szymborska",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wis-awa-szymborska/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I’ve wanted to write about them...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-long-while-but-it-s-a-tricky/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wis-awa-szymborska/i-ve-wanted-to-write-about-them-for-a-long-while-but-it-s-a-tricky/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
