It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
If one believes that words are acts, as I do, then one must hold writers responsible for what their words do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers have a responsibility for the impact of their words.
Ursula K. Le Guin emphasizes the belief that words are not merely tools for communication; they are powerful actions that can shape thoughts, emotions, and societal structures. This perspective calls for writers to acknowledge the weight of their words and the consequences that arise from their written work, advocating for a thoughtful and ethical approach to writing.
Themes
WordsResponsibilityWritingImpactCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, you might cite this quote to emphasize the importance of ethical writing.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes βIn reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. βDo they expect students not to be anarchists?β he said. βWhat else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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I don't know where people got the idea that characters in books are supposed to be likable. Books are not in the business of creating merely likeable characters with whom you can have some simple identification with. Books are in the business of creating great stories that make you're brain go ahhbdgbdmerhbergurhbudgerbudbaaarr.
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I have good reason to be content, for thank God I can read and perhaps understand Shakespeare to his depths.
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