--- title: "8 Details Quotes By Natalie Goldberg" description: "8 Details quotes by Natalie Goldberg. Plus more from Natalie Goldberg and more Details sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48c/natalie-goldberg-1741_black_our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect_48403.png" --- > [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48c/natalie-goldberg-1741_black_our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect_48403.png) > [Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/use-original-detail-in-your-writing-life-is-so-rich-if-you-can-write/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/natalie-goldberg-1741_details_use-original-detail-in-your-writing-life_539828.png) > [You'll lose your reader if you are vague, not clear, and not present. We love details, personal connections, stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/you-ll-lose-your-reader-if-you-are-vague-not-clear-and-not-present-we/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fe/natalie-goldberg-1741_books_you-ll-lose-your-reader-if-you-are-vague_1321555.png) > [Be awake to the details around you, but don't be self-conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/be-awake-to-the-details-around-you-but-don-t-be-self-conscious/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d96/natalie-goldberg-1741_awake_be-awake-to-the-details-around-you-but-d_1431544.png) > [In writing with detail, you are turning to face the world. It is a deeply political act, because you are not staying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-writing-with-detail-you-are-turning-to-face-the-world-it-is-a/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e25/natalie-goldberg-1741_bread_in-writing-with-detail-you-are-turning-t_2593338.png) > [Original details are very ordinary, except to the mind that sees extraordinariness. it's not that we need to go to the Hopi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/original-details-are-very-ordinary-except-to-the-mind-that-sees/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/natalie-goldberg-1741_details_original-details-are-very-ordinary-excep_2596977.png) > [We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/we-are-important-and-our-lives-are-important-magnificent-really-and/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/natalie-goldberg-1741_details_we-are-important-and-our-lives-are-impor_2712062.png) > [As writers we live life twice, like a cow that eats its food once and then regurgitates it to chew and digest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/as-writers-we-live-life-twice-like-a-cow-that-eats-its-food-once-and/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/natalie-goldberg-1741_biting_as-writers-we-live-life-twice-like-a-cow_2796947.jpg) ## Other authors on Details ## More by Natalie Goldberg > [“We heard about people who go back to their roots. That is good, but don't get stuck in the root. There is the branch,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/we-heard-about-people-who-go-back-to-their-roots-that-is-good-but-don/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Over and over, we have to go back to the beginning. We should not be ashamed of this. It is good. It's like drinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/over-and-over-we-have-to-go-back-to-the-beginning-we-should-not-be/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time at my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-feel-very-rich-when-i-have-time-to-write-and-very-poor-when-i-get-a/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Actually, when I look at my old notebooks, I think I have been a bit self-indulgent and have given myself too much time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/actually-when-i-look-at-my-old-notebooks-i-think-i-have-been-a-bit/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/know-that-you-will-eventually-have-to-leave-everything-behind-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-encounter-a-fine-book-and-have-time-to-read-it-is-a-wonderful-thing/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-the-past-few-years-i-ve-assigned-books-to-be-read-before-a-student/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [“When you draw and pay attention to what is, it's a form of being present. This inspires the mind, makes it happy, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/when-you-draw-and-pay-attention-to-what-is-it-s-a-form-of-being/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/poetry-is-a-dumb-buddha-who-thinks-a-donkey-is-as-important-as-a/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [I told all kinds of stories about going to Japan, about playing ball with my father... I wanted to record my life in case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-told-all-kinds-of-stories-about-going-to-japan-about-playing-ball/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [“No matter what a person does to cover up and conceal themselves, when we write and lose control, I can spot a person from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/no-matter-what-a-person-does-to-cover-up-and-conceal-themselves-when/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [To stay close and intimate with experience is to stay close to the mind; the nitty gritty mind of the way things really are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-stay-close-and-intimate-with-experience-is-to-stay-close-to-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [I read Eve Ensler and thought it was fabulous. Not only that, but it was really the only thing I could relate to about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-read-eve-ensler-and-thought-it-was-fabulous-not-only-that-but-it/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/if-you-feel-bored-or-uncomfortable-as-you-re-writing-ask-yourself/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/details/natalie-goldberg/#itemlist", "name": "8 Details Quotes By Natalie Goldberg", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones out of our minds come nitrogen, heat, and very fertile soil. Out of this fertile soil bloom our poems and stories. But this does not come all at once. It takes time. 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We have a second chance at biting into our experience and examining it. ...This is our life and it's not going to last forever. There isn't time to talk about someday writing that short story or poem or novel. 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