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Who really said it

If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it

Really Toni Morrison — but the popular wording is lightly reworded Toni Morrison 1931–2019 · American novelist, Nobel laureate (1993)
Attributed In copyright

This is a genuine Toni Morrison remark, made in a 1981 speech to the Ohio Arts Council and reported in The Cincinnati Enquirer. But her documented words were “If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it” — the viral form (“If there’s a book that you want to read…”) is a lightly smoothed paraphrase, not a verbatim quotation.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it” Toni Morrison, remarks to the Ohio Arts Council, 1981 (reported in The Cincinnati Enquirer). Her documented words: "If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Toni Morrison). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Toni Morrison — American novelist, editor, and Nobel laureate. Theme: "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The documented source

Speaker
Toni Morrison
Occasion
Ohio Arts Council annual meeting, 1981
First reported
“Writing Is Third Career For Morrison” (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Date
27 September 1981

If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.

Morrison’s documented 1981 words, as reported by Ellen Brown in The Cincinnati Enquirer. The popular internet version (“If there’s a book that you want to read…”) is a lightly smoothed rewording of this.

Quote Investigator: the full investigation and 1981 citation

How we traced it

  • Quote Investigator traces the line to Morrison’s 1981 Ohio Arts Council speech and credits her for the remark.
  • The earliest documented print is “Writing Is Third Career For Morrison” by Ellen Brown, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 Sep 1981 (per QI’s citation), where her words were “If you find a book you really want to read…”.
  • The smoothed “If there’s a book that you want to read…” form now circulates on Goodreads and countless writing sites.
In copyright

Morrison’s remark was first published in 1981 (The Cincinnati Enquirer), well after the 1931 US public-domain cutoff, so her words remain in copyright. Rights to Morrison’s expression rest with her estate; the newspaper report itself is held by its publisher (Gannett).

Fact-check

Right author, reworded line

This one is not a misattribution — the sentiment and the remark are genuinely Toni Morrison’s. The catch is the wording: the version everyone shares has been quietly smoothed from what she actually said, and a few antecedent thinkers had voiced the same idea long before 1981.

“If there’s a book that you want to read…” vs. what she said reworded

Morrison’s documented 1981 words were “If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” The viral form drops “find” and “really” and inserts “that” — a paraphrase, per Quote Investigator.

Benjamin Disraeli (1833) earlier echo

Disraeli reportedly quipped, “Madam, when I want to read a book, I write one” — a related sentiment, but not the same line, noted by QI.

C. S. Lewis (via J. R. R. Tolkien, 1955) earlier echo

Tolkien credited Lewis with “if they won’t write the kind of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves” — the same impulse, differently phrased (QI).

Bottom line: the credit belongs to Toni Morrison, from her 1981 Ohio Arts Council speech — just quote her actual words, per Quote Investigator.

Context

Why it resonated

Morrison made the remark not as a novelist but while still known as a senior editor at Random House — the 1981 newspaper piece framed writing as her “third career.” In context she described writing as “an advanced and slow form of reading,” which is what gives the line its punch: the writer is first a hungry reader who refuses to wait.

The thought struck a nerve with aspiring authors and became one of the most-shared pieces of writing advice on the internet — which is exactly how the wording drifted into its smoother, more quotable modern shape.

Writing is an advanced and slow form of reading.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Creativity Purpose

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator — full origin analysisquoteinvestigator.com

Traces the line to Morrison’s 1981 Ohio Arts Council speech, gives the exact 1981 Cincinnati Enquirer citation, and documents earlier related sentiments.
Goodreads — the popular (reworded) formgoodreads.com

Where the smoothed viral wording circulates, attributed to Morrison.
Writer’s Digest — Toni Morrison on writingwritersdigest.com

Collects Morrison’s writing advice, including this line.
Toni Morrison — Nobel Prize biographynobelprize.org

Biographical facts on Morrison, 1993 Nobel laureate in Literature.
Toni Morrison — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Life, career, and works of the author.

The real author

About Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison

1931–2019 · American novelist, editor, and Nobel laureate

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio) was one of the most celebrated American novelists of the twentieth century, author of The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Before her career as a novelist she worked as an influential editor at Random House — the “third career” framing of the 1981 newspaper piece that first reported this remark.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Ellen Brown, “Writing Is Third Career For Morrison,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 September 1981, F11 (as documented by Quote Investigator, “If You Find a Book You Really Want To Read But It Hasn’t Been Written Yet, Then You Must Write It,” 16 July 2018).

MLA (9th ed.)

Brown, Ellen. “Writing Is Third Career for Morrison.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 Sept. 1981, p. F11.

APA (7th ed.)

Brown, E. (1981, September 27). Writing is third career for Morrison. The Cincinnati Enquirer, F11.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/if-theres-a-book-that-you-want-to-read-but-it-hasnt-been

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