---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I consider the process of gestation just…"
description: "\"I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.\" — Wole Soyinka"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg"
---

#  I consider the process of gestation just as important as…

![“I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg)

> “I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.”

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

## About This Quote

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

The act of thinking and planning is as vital as the act of writing itself.

**In simple terms:** Planning matters as much as execution.

Key Takeaway

Balance thought and action.

Themes

creativity discipline process

Mood

contemplative inspirational

Type

advice motivational

When to use this quote

- writing
- research
- project management
- teaching

Key Concepts

Literary theory productivity mindset

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you know when to start writing?
- What balance works for you?

A Different Perspective

Too much planning can cause paralysis.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Consider Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider-process-5888507/) [Gestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestation/) [Gestation Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestation-just-5888506/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Just Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-important/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Process Gestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-gestation-5888505/) [Putting Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/putting-words/) [Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting/) [Sitting down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting-down/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [I know there are writers who get up every morning and sit by their typewriter or word processor or pad of paper and wait…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-know-there-are-writers-who-get-up-every-morning-and-sit-by-their/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [Usually, the best ideas come from other people's good ideas, which then, after a short gestation period, become your ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/usually-the-best-ideas-come-from-other-people-s-good-ideas-which-then/)

[Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/)

> [I think a film should have a gestation period of at least two or three years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-joffe/i-think-a-film-should-have-a-gestation-period-of-at-least-two-or/)

[Roland Joffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-joffe/)

> [One nourishes one's created characters with one's own substance: it's rather like the process of gestation. To give the character life, or to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/one-nourishes-one-s-created-characters-with-one-s-own-substance-it-s/)

[Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/)

> [Everything is gestation and then birthing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/everything-is-gestation-and-then-birthing/)

[Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/)

> [In the past we could afford a long gestation period before undertaking major environmental policy initiatives. Today the time for a well-planned transition to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-the-past-we-could-afford-a-long-gestation-period-before/)

[Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/)

> [“Everything is gestation and then bringing forth. To let each impression and each germ of feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-m-rilke/everything-is-gestation-and-then-bringing-forth-to-let-each/)

[Rainer M. Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-m-rilke/)

> [I never had children, never even thought I would have children. Now I have 152 daughters; expecting 75 more next year. That is some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-never-had-children-never-even-thought-i-would-have-children-now-i/)

[Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/)

> [The birth of a true poet is neither an insignificant event nor an easy delivery. Complications generally begin long before the fated soul carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-birth-of-a-true-poet-is-neither-an-insignificant-event-nor-an/)

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

> [Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/literary-history-and-the-present-are-dark-with-silences-i-have-had/)

[Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/)

> [Everywhere revolutions are painful yet a fruitful gestation of people; they shed blood but create light, they eliminate men but elaborate ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-gonzalez-flores/everywhere-revolutions-are-painful-yet-a-fruitful-gestation-of-people/)

[Manuel Gonzalez Flores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-gonzalez-flores/)

> [If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead. If anyone should assert that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-of-nazianzus/if-anyone-does-not-believe-that-holy-mary-is-the-mother-of-god-he-is/)

[Gregory of Nazianzus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-of-nazianzus/)

> [I read recently in an article by G.K. Chesterton, that sex without gestation and parturition is like blowing the trumpets and waving the flags…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/i-read-recently-in-an-article-by-g-k-chesterton-that-sex-without/)

[Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/)

> [Look at Mann's reading habits, his explicit comments on Nietzsche, and his copy of Birth of Tragedy, and it starts to seem doubtful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/look-at-mann-s-reading-habits-his-explicit-comments-on-nietzsche-and/)

[Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/)

> [Despite the reams of paperwork, obstacles worthy of a horse show, and a wait that can rival an elephant's gestation, adoption feels no different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-simon/despite-the-reams-of-paperwork-obstacles-worthy-of-a-horse-show-and-a/)

[Scott Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-simon/)

## More by Wole Soyinka

> [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

> [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/)

[Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

[Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/)

## More Gestation quotes

> [Despite the reams of paperwork, obstacles worthy of a horse show, and a wait that can rival an elephant's gestation, adoption feels no different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-simon/despite-the-reams-of-paperwork-obstacles-worthy-of-a-horse-show-and-a/)

[Scott Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-simon/)

> [Look at Mann's reading habits, his explicit comments on Nietzsche, and his copy of Birth of Tragedy, and it starts to seem doubtful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/look-at-mann-s-reading-habits-his-explicit-comments-on-nietzsche-and/)

[Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/)

> [I read recently in an article by G.K. Chesterton, that sex without gestation and parturition is like blowing the trumpets and waving the flags…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/i-read-recently-in-an-article-by-g-k-chesterton-that-sex-without/)

[Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/)

> [If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead. If anyone should assert that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-of-nazianzus/if-anyone-does-not-believe-that-holy-mary-is-the-mother-of-god-he-is/)

[Gregory of Nazianzus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-of-nazianzus/)

> [Everywhere revolutions are painful yet a fruitful gestation of people; they shed blood but create light, they eliminate men but elaborate ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-gonzalez-flores/everywhere-revolutions-are-painful-yet-a-fruitful-gestation-of-people/)

[Manuel Gonzalez Flores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-gonzalez-flores/)

> [Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/literary-history-and-the-present-are-dark-with-silences-i-have-had/)

[Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/)

> [The birth of a true poet is neither an insignificant event nor an easy delivery. Complications generally begin long before the fated soul carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-birth-of-a-true-poet-is-neither-an-insignificant-event-nor-an/)

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

> [I never had children, never even thought I would have children. Now I have 152 daughters; expecting 75 more next year. That is some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-never-had-children-never-even-thought-i-would-have-children-now-i/)

[Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/)

> [“Everything is gestation and then bringing forth. To let each impression and each germ of feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-m-rilke/everything-is-gestation-and-then-bringing-forth-to-let-each/)

[Rainer M. Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-m-rilke/)

> [In the past we could afford a long gestation period before undertaking major environmental policy initiatives. Today the time for a well-planned transition to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-the-past-we-could-afford-a-long-gestation-period-before/)

[Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/)

> [Everything is gestation and then birthing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/everything-is-gestation-and-then-birthing/)

[Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/)

> [One nourishes one's created characters with one's own substance: it's rather like the process of gestation. To give the character life, or to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/one-nourishes-one-s-created-characters-with-one-s-own-substance-it-s/)

[Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/)

> [I think a film should have a gestation period of at least two or three years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-joffe/i-think-a-film-should-have-a-gestation-period-of-at-least-two-or/)

[Roland Joffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-joffe/)

> [Usually, the best ideas come from other people's good ideas, which then, after a short gestation period, become your ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/usually-the-best-ideas-come-from-other-people-s-good-ideas-which-then/)

[Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/)

> [Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness... bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/creativity-like-human-life-itself-begins-in-darkness-bright-ideas-are/)

[Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/)

[Browse all 36 Gestation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestation/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Wole Soyinka"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just-as-important-as-when-you-re/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Gestation"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just-as-important-as-when-you-re/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/wole-soyinka-1587_gestation_i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just_1566684.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to…” — Wole Soyinka",
                "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": "Wole Soyinka",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I consider the process of gestation...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just-as-important-as-when-you-re/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-consider-the-process-of-gestation-just-as-important-as-when-you-re/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
