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Joan Didion Quotes

I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages Picture Quote #1

On the whole, I don’t want to think too much about why I write what I write. If I know what I’m doing... I can’t do it Picture Quote #1

Something I’ve always known about the screen is that if it’s anything in the world, it’s literal. It’s so literal that there’s a whole lot you can’t do because you’re stuck with the literalness of the screen. The stage is not literal Picture Quote #1

Becoming a parent is actually terrifying. A lot of people have that feeling about their dogs. And if you’re the kind of person who’s going to have that feeling about a dog you’re definitely going to have that about a child Picture Quote #1

Most death now happens in hospitals. It’s been medicalized. It happens away from where we deal with it directly. And that’s a huge change. At the beginning of the 20th century most people died at home. Death was much more common Picture Quote #1

I learned early to keep death in my line of sight, keep it under surveillance, keep it on cleared ground and away from any brush where it might coil unnoticed Picture Quote #1

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In the absence of a natural disaster we are left again to our own uneasy devices Picture Quote #1

We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices Picture Quote #1

I can’t imagine writing if I didn’t have a reader. Any more than an actor can imagine acting without an audience Picture Quote #1

You think you have some stable talent which will show no matter what you’re writing, and if it doesn’t seem to be getting across to the audience once, you can’t imagine that moment when it suddenly will Picture Quote #1

It’s hard to find a book that’s safe to write. Because one always goes to dark or difficult places Picture Quote #1

I did consider marriage and motherhood extreme and doomed commitments. Not out of any experience of them as such, but it was simply the way I looked at things Picture Quote #1

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If you want to understand what you’re thinking, you kind of have to work it through and write it. And the only way to work it through, for me, is to write it Picture Quote #1

I wanted to be an oceanographer, actually. It’s a way of going underwater. I’ve always been interested in how deep it was, you know Picture Quote #1

We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not Picture Quote #1

I don’t lead a writer’s life. And I think that can be a source of suspicion and irritation to some people Picture Quote #1

One of the things that happens to people in grief is they secretly think they’re crazy, because they realize they are thinking things that don’t make sense Picture Quote #1

I don’t think anybody feels like they’re a good parent. Or if people think they’re good parents, they ought to think again Picture Quote #1

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I hadn’t thought that I was generally a pack rat, but it turns out I am Picture Quote #1

I’m totally in control of this tiny, tiny world right there at the typewriter Picture Quote #1

I’ve never been keen on open adoption. It doesn’t seem to solve the main problem with adoption, which is that somebody feels she was abandoned by someone else Picture Quote #1

When we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something... but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, that is when we join the fashionable madmen Picture Quote #1

My only advantage as a reporter is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests Picture Quote #1

Nonfiction is more personal for me. It’s more personal in that it’s more direct, and actually it’s always been more direct, even when I first started doing pieces Picture Quote #1

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I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive in order to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead Picture Quote #1

Water is important to people who do not have it, and the same is true of control Picture Quote #1

We tell ourselves stories in order to live. We live entirely by the impression of a narrative line upon disparate images, the shifting phantasmagoria, which is our actual experience Picture Quote #1

Another thing I need to do, when I’m near the end of the book, is sleep in the same room with it... Somehow the book doesn’t leave you when you’re asleep right next to it Picture Quote #1

The ability to think for one’s self depends upon one’s mastery of the language Picture Quote #1

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

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Text Quotes

I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages (Joan Didion Quotes) On the whole, I don’t want to think too much about why I write what I write. If I know what I’m doing... I can’t do it (Joan Didion Quotes) Something I’ve always known about the screen is that if it’s anything in the world, it’s literal. It’s so literal that there’s a whole lot you can’t do because you’re stuck with the literalness of the screen. The stage is not literal (Joan Didion Quotes) Becoming a parent is actually terrifying. A lot of people have that feeling about their dogs. And if you’re the kind of person who’s going to have that feeling about a dog you’re definitely going to have that about a child (Joan Didion Quotes) Most death now happens in hospitals. It’s been medicalized. It happens away from where we deal with it directly. And that’s a huge change. At the beginning of the 20th century most people died at home. Death was much more common (Joan Didion Quotes) I learned early to keep death in my line of sight, keep it under surveillance, keep it on cleared ground and away from any brush where it might coil unnoticed (Joan Didion Quotes) In the absence of a natural disaster we are left again to our own uneasy devices (Joan Didion Quotes) We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices (Joan Didion Quotes) I can’t imagine writing if I didn’t have a reader. Any more than an actor can imagine acting without an audience (Joan Didion Quotes) You think you have some stable talent which will show no matter what you’re writing, and if it doesn’t seem to be getting across to the audience once, you can’t imagine that moment when it suddenly will (Joan Didion Quotes) It’s hard to find a book that’s safe to write. Because one always goes to dark or difficult places (Joan Didion Quotes) I did consider marriage and motherhood extreme and doomed commitments. Not out of any experience of them as such, but it was simply the way I looked at things (Joan Didion Quotes) If you want to understand what you’re thinking, you kind of have to work it through and write it. And the only way to work it through, for me, is to write it (Joan Didion Quotes) I wanted to be an oceanographer, actually. It’s a way of going underwater. I’ve always been interested in how deep it was, you know (Joan Didion Quotes) We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not (Joan Didion Quotes) I don’t lead a writer’s life. And I think that can be a source of suspicion and irritation to some people (Joan Didion Quotes) One of the things that happens to people in grief is they secretly think they’re crazy, because they realize they are thinking things that don’t make sense (Joan Didion Quotes) I don’t think anybody feels like they’re a good parent. Or if people think they’re good parents, they ought to think again (Joan Didion Quotes) I hadn’t thought that I was generally a pack rat, but it turns out I am (Joan Didion Quotes) I’m totally in control of this tiny, tiny world right there at the typewriter (Joan Didion Quotes) I’ve never been keen on open adoption. It doesn’t seem to solve the main problem with adoption, which is that somebody feels she was abandoned by someone else (Joan Didion Quotes) When we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something... but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, that is when we join the fashionable madmen (Joan Didion Quotes) My only advantage as a reporter is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests (Joan Didion Quotes) Nonfiction is more personal for me. It’s more personal in that it’s more direct, and actually it’s always been more direct, even when I first started doing pieces (Joan Didion Quotes) I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive in order to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead (Joan Didion Quotes) Water is important to people who do not have it, and the same is true of control (Joan Didion Quotes) We tell ourselves stories in order to live. We live entirely by the impression of a narrative line upon disparate images, the shifting phantasmagoria, which is our actual experience (Joan Didion Quotes) Another thing I need to do, when I’m near the end of the book, is sleep in the same room with it... Somehow the book doesn’t leave you when you’re asleep right next to it (Joan Didion Quotes) The ability to think for one’s self depends upon one’s mastery of the language (Joan Didion Quotes) The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it (Joan Didion Quotes)

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