---
title: "3 Biography Quotes By Janet Malcolm"
description: "3 Biography quotes by Janet Malcolm. Plus more from Janet Malcolm and more Biography sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_the-transgressive-nature-of-biography-is_1139561.png"
---

> [The transgressive nature of biography is rarely acknowledged, but it is the only explanation for biography's status as a popular genre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-transgressive-nature-of-biography-is-rarely-acknowledged-but-it/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_the-transgressive-nature-of-biography-is_1139561.png)

> [My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-even-though-i-keep-doing-it/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png)

> [“Biographers rue the destruction or loss of letters; they might also curse the husband and wife who never leave each other’s side,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/biographers-rue-the-destruction-or-loss-of-letters-they-might-also/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/janet-malcolm-10933_abortion_biographers-rue-the-destruction-or-loss_2639847.png)

## Other authors on Biography

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-caleb-deschanel-20625.jpg) Beth Kempton 29 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/beth-kempton/)
- [Mike Jay 20 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/mike-jay/)
- [Trevor Noah 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/trevor-noah/)
- [Aiden Shaw 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/aiden-shaw/)
- [Ronald Kessler 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/ronald-kessler/)
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

## More by Janet Malcolm

> [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-writer-ultimately-tires-of-the-subject-s-self-serving-story-and/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness through an unspoken agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/society-mediates-between-the-extremes-of-on-the-one-hand-intolerably/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-i-character-in-journalism-is-almost-pure-invention-unlike-the-i/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [I don't want to manipulate actuality; I want to record it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/i-don-t-want-to-manipulate-actuality-i-want-to-record-it/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [The journalistic 'I' is an overreliable narrator, a functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an ad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalistic-i-is-an-overreliable-narrator-a-functionary-to-whom/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [“The subject of a piece of writing has not suffered the tension and anxiety endured by the subject of the "Eichmann experiment" (as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-subject-of-a-piece-of-writing-has-not-suffered-the-tension-and/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [People talk in ungrammatical, unwriterly ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/people-talk-in-ungrammatical-unwriterly-ways/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [This is what it is the business of the artist to do. Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/this-is-what-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-do-art-is-theft-art/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [The journalist confines himself to the clean, gentlemanly work of exposing the griefs and shames of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalist-confines-himself-to-the-clean-gentlemanly-work-of/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [The dominant and most deep-dyed trait of the journalist is his timorousness. Where the novelist fearlessly plunges into the water of self-exposure, the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-dominant-and-most-deep-dyed-trait-of-the-journalist-is-his/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [If I write a page a day, I feel very good about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/if-i-write-a-page-a-day-i-feel-very-good-about-it/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [“Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and-2/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

> [You could say that any book that takes a position is not fair, unless you keep saying, 'On the one hand, on the other...'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/you-could-say-that-any-book-that-takes-a-position-is-not-fair-unless/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

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