--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The man who comes to writing late, but is…" description: "\"The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a writer, may sometimes gain as much as he has lost: his experience of life has given him a subjec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg" --- # The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a… ![“The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a writer, may sometimes gain as much as he has lost: his experience of life has given him a subject, he is spared the youthful writer's self-torment and soul-searching.” quote by Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg) > “The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a writer, may sometimes gain as much as he has lost: his experience of life has given him a subject, he is spared the youthful writer's self-torment and soul-searching.” [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Late starters may bring life experience, avoiding youthful self-doubt, yet risk missing early skill development. **In simple terms:** Experience helps, but early practice matters. Key Takeaway Balance experience with early practice. Themes writing experience self-doubt growth skill development Mood encouraging thoughtful Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - career change - creative projects - academic writing - personal memoirs Key Concepts creativity lifelong learning confidence Questions to Reflect On - How can late writers catch up? - What advantages does experience bring? A Different Perspective Late bloomers may lack foundational techniques. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Essence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Soul searching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-searching/) [Torment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torment/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [ I heard someone say he \[Carl Sandburg\] was the kind of writer who had everything to gain and nothing to lose by being translated… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/i-heard-someone-say-he-carl-sandburg-was-the-kind-of-writer-who-had/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [I relish the time I have when there are no interruptions. Most often the best time for writing is late at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-armstrong/i-relish-the-time-i-have-when-there-are-no-interruptions-most-often/) [Franny Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-armstrong/) > [Well, my father Kingsley Amis was a writer and it seemed natural to start writing in my late teens. I think it was good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/well-my-father-kingsley-amis-was-a-writer-and-it-seemed-natural-to/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I had been writing for the 'Late Show' for about four years when I started writing short stories. I had a blast writing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-davis/i-had-been-writing-for-the-late-show-for-about-four-years-when-i/) [Jill Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-davis/) > [“I didn't start writing late. I started when the story was ready and so was I. Writing@55”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trice-mcintyre/i-didn-t-start-writing-late-i-started-when-the-story-was-ready-and-so/) Trice McIntyre > [Writing for late night is really good for learning how to write when you don't want to write. You have to produce every day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wolf/writing-for-late-night-is-really-good-for-learning-how-to-write-when/) [Michelle Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wolf/) > [I didn't start writing until late high school and then I was just diddling. 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Carey > [If you are going to be a writer, you have to have self-belief, every writer gets rejections, they say the difference between a successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/if-you-are-going-to-be-a-writer-you-have-to-have-self-belief-every/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [“Writing is such an industry now. In many ways, that's a good thing, in that it removes all the muse-like mystique and makes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-t-davies-2/writing-is-such-an-industry-now-in-many-ways-that-s-a-good-thing-in/) [Russell T. Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-t-davies-2/) > [A self-advertising writer is always a self-extinguished writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/a-self-advertising-writer-is-always-a-self-extinguished-writer/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## More by Wright Morris > [Everyone in California is from somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/everyone-in-california-is-from-somewhere-else/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [ \[We\] make images to see clearly: then we see clearly what we have made. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/we-make-images-to-see-clearly-then-we-see-clearly-what-we-have-made/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [We're in the world of communications more and more, tough we're in communication less and less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/we-re-in-the-world-of-communications-more-and-more-tough-we-re-in/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [The photograph, after all, is just a photograph. Words will determine its meaning and status.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-photograph-after-all-is-just-a-photograph-words-will-determine/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [I prefer a taken to a made photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/i-prefer-a-taken-to-a-made-photograph/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [The past is useless. That explains why it is past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-past-is-useless-that-explains-why-it-is-past/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [ However much \[photographs\] may lie, they do so with the raw materials of truth. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/however-much-photographs-may-lie-they-do-so-with-the-raw-materials-of/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [The imagination made us human, but being human, becoming more human, is a greater burden than we imagined. We have no choice but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-imagination-made-us-human-but-being-human-becoming-more-human-is/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [In the blur of the photograph, time leaves its gleaming, snail-like track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/in-the-blur-of-the-photograph-time-leaves-its-gleaming-snail-like/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [As the style of Faulkner grew out of his rage--out of the impotence of his rage--the style of Hemingway grew out of the depth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/as-the-style-of-faulkner-grew-out-of-his-rage-out-of-the-impotence-of/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [“Life, raw life, the kind we lead every day, whether it leads us into the past or the future, has the curious property of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/life-raw-life-the-kind-we-lead-every-day-whether-it-leads-us-into-the/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [The man who walks alone is soon trailed by the F.B.I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-man-who-walks-alone-is-soon-trailed-by-the-f-b-i/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [The vast number of photographers, feeding on anything visible, overgraze the landscape the way cattle overgraze their pasture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-vast-number-of-photographers-feeding-on-anything-visible/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [There's little to see, but things leave an impression. It's a matter of time and repetition. As something old wears thin or out, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/there-s-little-to-see-but-things-leave-an-impression-it-s-a-matter-of/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [Cats don't belong to people. They belong to places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/cats-don-t-belong-to-people-they-belong-to-places/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) [Explore all 23 Wright Morris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) ## More Essence quotes > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [Spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. Joy is of the essence of life;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnivesh/spiritually-life-is-a-festival-a-celebration-joy-is-of-the-essence-of/) [Agnivesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnivesh/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [It's all the unwordable things one wants to write about, just as it's all the unformable things one wants to paint - essence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-carr/it-s-all-the-unwordable-things-one-wants-to-write-about-just-as-it-s/) [Emily Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-carr/) > [In essence, I see the value of journalism as resting in a twofold mission: informing the public of accurate and vital information, and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/in-essence-i-see-the-value-of-journalism-as-resting-in-a-twofold/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [Curiosity is the essence of human existence. 'Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'... I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/curiosity-is-the-essence-of-human-existence-who-are-we-where-are-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The essence of worldliness is exclusion of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jacobsen/the-essence-of-worldliness-is-exclusion-of-god/) [Henry Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jacobsen/) > [I am alive. Up here with the song of the engine and the air whispering on my face as the sunlight and shadows play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-coonts/i-am-alive-up-here-with-the-song-of-the-engine-and-the-air-whispering/) [Stephen Coonts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-coonts/) > [The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with... the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-essence-of-christianity-is-an-ever-new-encounter-with-the-god-who/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [The wisdom or the essence of Guru Tattwa is a balance. Like when you maintain a plant, if you do not give it water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/the-wisdom-or-the-essence-of-guru-tattwa-is-a-balance-like-when-you/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [This is the pathless path - returning to where you were initially before you got lost. The deepest truth in you is where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/this-is-the-pathless-path-returning-to-where-you-were-initially/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Communism... is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/communism-is-the-genuine-resolution-of-the-antagonism-between-man-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [I'm not so much in the future as always in the present. The future always takes care of itself. What I do now with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-m-not-so-much-in-the-future-as-always-in-the-present-the-future/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [The essence of the stage is concentration and penetration. Of the screen action, movement, sweep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elia-kazan/the-essence-of-the-stage-is-concentration-and-penetration-of-the/) [Elia Kazan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elia-kazan/) [Browse all 3,115 Essence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a writer, may sometimes gain as much as he has lost: his experience of life has given him a subject, he is spared the youthful writer's self-torment and soul-searching.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wright Morris" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is-in-essence-a-writer-may/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Essence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is-in-essence-a-writer-may/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/wright-morris-25032_essence_the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is_1632548.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The man who comes to writing late, but is in essence a writer, may sometimes gain as much as he has lost…” — Wright Morris", "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": "Wright Morris", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The man who comes to writing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is-in-essence-a-writer-may/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/the-man-who-comes-to-writing-late-but-is-in-essence-a-writer-may/#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 } } ] } ```