"Voice" has become a dangerous term. It has tended to imply romanticism, expressionism, and individualism--dangerous things. There are, however, two safe or prudent thoughts that can be expressed about voice and writing and four dangerous or adventuresome thoughts. The first point is that the choice between the use of terms such as text and discourse over a term like voice is not one between right and wrong but one between alternative lenses. The first two emphasize the interdependence of all utterances; the latter emphasizes individuality. Both emphases are useful. The second point is that voice, in several of its many usages, refers to ideologically uncontroversial concepts: audible voice, dramatic voice, distinctive voice, and authoritative voice. The four dangerous thoughts are as follows: (1) that to empower badly treated people and groups, academics must listen for the link between voice and self; (2) that composition must not privilege the reader's point of view at the expense of the writer's point of view; (3) that when the academic listens for intonation or J. Kristeva's semiotic, he or she is listening for the most "bodily" dimension of language; and (4) that anyone can produce writing that captures the attention and interest of readers, without training, without skill, and from the first day of class. Therefore, terms like romanticism, expressivism, and individualism are not very accurate ways of describing what is entailed in the concept of voice. (Contains 11 references.) (TB)