---
title: "3 Anthology Quotes By John D'Agata"
description: "3 Anthology quotes by John D'Agata. Plus more from John D'Agata and more Anthology sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20b/john-d-agata-13689_anthology_and-lopate-s-anthology-helped-a-lot-too_1959400.jpg"
---

> [And Lopate's anthology helped a lot too. It came out the same year I started grad school, and I remember the book's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/and-lopate-s-anthology-helped-a-lot-too-it-came-out-the-same-year-i/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20b/john-d-agata-13689_anthology_and-lopate-s-anthology-helped-a-lot-too_1959400.jpg)

> [When you're a young writer and you look at people praising a big hefty anthology that has uncovered a long lost genre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/when-you-re-a-young-writer-and-you-look-at-people-praising-a-big/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/417/john-d-agata-13689_anthology_when-you-re-a-young-writer-and-you-look_2100344.jpg)

> [The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/john-d-agata-13689_anthologies_the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds_3140848.jpg)

## Other authors on Anthology

## More by John D'Agata

> [Inclusiveness isn't what I want to push back against. The obsession with facts is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/inclusiveness-isn-t-what-i-want-to-push-back-against-the-obsession/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Yet there are some critics in the nonfiction world who still look at some of today's stranger interpretations of the essay and say "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/yet-there-are-some-critics-in-the-nonfiction-world-who-still-look-at/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I think that in a lot of readers' minds the essay is a lot more utilitarian than it is art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-think-that-in-a-lot-of-readers-minds-the-essay-is-a-lot-more/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [As frustrating as my time in grad school felt, it also helped tremendously because it challenged me to figure out what it was I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/as-frustrating-as-my-time-in-grad-school-felt-it-also-helped/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I'm not worried about what part of their life they needed to massage in order to achieve something that I get to experience as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-m-not-worried-about-what-part-of-their-life-they-needed-to-massage/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [You create your own audience, and your own community of peers, and in some ways you create your own forebears as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/you-create-your-own-audience-and-your-own-community-of-peers-and-in/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Even if it's a definition that feels oppressive to us, that oppression can be inspiring because it helps us push up against something while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/even-if-it-s-a-definition-that-feels-oppressive-to-us-that-oppression/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I thought that I wasn't an essayist because I just didn't see myself in a lot of the essays that were popular at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-thought-that-i-wasn-t-an-essayist-because-i-just-didn-t-see-myself/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [A risk is something that feels risky to the person who's taking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/a-risk-is-something-that-feels-risky-to-the-person-who-s-taking-it/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [You move your life across the country and make a commitment to a place, and to a genre, and then you realize that neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/you-move-your-life-across-the-country-and-make-a-commitment-to-a/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Pedagogically, we need definitions and borders. They help us get our heads around what we're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/pedagogically-we-need-definitions-and-borders-they-help-us-get-our/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [“Maybe every essay automatically is in some way experimental — less an outline traveling toward a foregone conclusion than an unmapped quest that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/maybe-every-essay-automatically-is-in-some-way-experimental-less-an/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [I wanted to create an environment in which more than just personal essays could be represented, and in which stranger approaches to making essays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-wanted-to-create-an-environment-in-which-more-than-just-personal/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [Sometimes what I'm looking for is the thing that will help renew people's interest in a writer that they may have written off as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/sometimes-what-i-m-looking-for-is-the-thing-that-will-help-renew/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

> [It's fun to just skim through piles of books in the stacks of a library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/it-s-fun-to-just-skim-through-piles-of-books-in-the-stacks-of-a/)

[John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/)

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