“One who writes memoir wishes to step into that light, not to see one's own face—that is not possible—but to feel the length of shadow cast by the night.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“True memoir is written, like all literature, in an attempt to find not only a self but a world.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“If we learn not only to tell our stories but to listen to what our stories tell us—to write the first draft and then return for the second draft—we are doing the work of memory.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“For meaning is not "attached" to the detail by the memoirist; meaning is revealed.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“Seeking the congruence between stored image and hidden emotion—that's the real job of memoir.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“My narrative self (the culprit who invented) wishes to be discovered by my reflective self, the self who wants to understand and make sense of half-remembered moment.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“Memory seeks a permanent home for feeling and image, a habitation where they can live together.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“Intimacy with a piece of writing, as with a person, comes from paying attention to the revelations it is capable of giving, not by imposing my own notions and agenda, no matter how well intentioned they might be.”— Patricia Hampl, amazon.com
“Nash displayed an ironic awareness that his insights were essentially private, unique to himself, and bound to seem strange or unbelievable to others. 'This concept that I want to describe will perhaps sound absurd,' is the sort of preface of which Nash used frequently. His sentences were filled wit…”— Sylvia Nasar, amazon.com
“Talented people do not need atmosphere to work. They do not need inspiration. They just need time and payment. They need to treat what they do like a job. They need to show up.”— Elizabeth Wurtzel, amazon.com
“Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound to the crowd strive for obscurity. For the crowd believes that if it cannot see to the bottom of something it must be profound.”— Friedrich Nietzsche, amazon.com