---
title: "41 Personal essays Quotes by 15 authors"
description: "Browse 41 Personal essays quotes by 15 authors. Discover the best Personal essays sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca6/dani-shapiro-2273_convince_when-it-comes-to-the-personal-essays-i-w_1248170.png"
---

> [When it comes to the personal essays I write, I just convince myself that no one will ever read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/when-it-comes-to-the-personal-essays-i-write-i-just-convince-myself/)

[Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca6/dani-shapiro-2273_convince_when-it-comes-to-the-personal-essays-i-w_1248170.png)

> [“A writer is not born but made through study and sheer willpower and ability to embrace beauty and agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-writer-is-not-born-but-made-through-study-and-sheer-willpower-and/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_authors_a-writer-is-not-born-but-made-through-st_264015.jpg)

> [“Writing word after word represents a type of power, the sort of command that a person amasses slowly with thoughtful inquiry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-word-after-word-represents-a-type-of-power-the-sort-of/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e8/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_essayist_writing-word-after-word-represents-a-typ_2072396.jpg)

> [A personal essay often includes some or a lot of personal confession. That makes the reader feel less lonely in their confusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lopate/a-personal-essay-often-includes-some-or-a-lot-of-personal-confession/)

[Phillip Lopate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lopate/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/phillip-lopate-17223_books_a-personal-essay-often-includes-some-or_168535.jpg)

> [I enjoy writing personal essays in the way of Charles Lamb because it goes back to the school days when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-enjoy-writing-personal-essays-in-the-way-of-charles-lamb-because-it/)

[Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc6/ruskin-bond-1864_enjoy_i-enjoy-writing-personal-essays-in-the-w_1648591.png)

> [You must read a lot of personal essays - you needn't reinvent the wheel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lopate/you-must-read-a-lot-of-personal-essays-you-needn-t-reinvent-the-wheel/)

[Phillip Lopate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lopate/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fce/phillip-lopate-17223_books_you-must-read-a-lot-of-personal-essays-y_1706598.jpg)

> [While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/while-i-had-cancer-i-wrote-these-twenty-two-personal-essays-about-how/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/natalie-goldberg-1741_cancer_while-i-had-cancer-i-wrote-these-twenty_1424633.png)

> [“Writing is a form of intense thinking that takes a person on a journey into previously uncharted territory of the writer’s mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-a-form-of-intense-thinking-that-takes-a-person-on-a/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10d/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_essay-writing_writing-is-a-form-of-intense-thinking-th_1948572.jpg)

> [“Writing enables a person to build a protective barrier shielding them from an adverse environment, scrutinize their circumstances, and discover how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-enables-a-person-to-build-a-protective-barrier-shielding-them/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d2/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_barrier_writing-enables-a-person-to-build-a-prot_546969.jpg)

> [I could write another collection of personal essays from what has happened to me in the last year alone. I don't seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-could-write-another-collection-of-personal-essays-from-what-has/)

[Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d5/augusten-burroughs-603_collections_i-could-write-another-collection-of-pers_1649348.png)

> [Another benefit is that the more I blog, the more I maintain and develop a first-person voice, which translates into a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-christensen/another-benefit-is-that-the-more-i-blog-the-more-i-maintain-and/)

[Kate Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-christensen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c9/kate-christensen-25247_benefits_another-benefit-is-that-the-more-i-blog_2097120.png)

> [The forms of the short, written poem as they have been developed in English over the past few centuries can be usefully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-scholes/the-forms-of-the-short-written-poem-as-they-have-been-developed-in/)

[Robert Scholes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-scholes/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/robert-scholes-66236_century_the-forms-of-the-short-written-poem-as-t_2845628.jpg)

> [Novels are my favorite to write and read. I do like writing personal essays, too. I'm not really a short story writer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/novels-are-my-favorite-to-write-and-read-i-do-like-writing-personal/)

[Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b76/dani-shapiro-2273_books_novels-are-my-favorite-to-write-and-read_314425.png)

> [I wanted to create an environment in which more than just personal essays could be represented, and in which stranger approaches to…](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/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b2/john-d-agata-13689_approach_i-wanted-to-create-an-environment-in-whi_563863.jpg)

> [When I was in graduate school, my thesis included both poetry and essays. Influenced by the personal essays of James Baldwin and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/when-i-was-in-graduate-school-my-thesis-included-both-poetry-and/)

[Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/stephen-vincent-benet-9780_essays_when-i-was-in-graduate-school-my-thesis_912024.jpg)

> [“All experiences change us and personal writing is one of the most powerful agencies of change. The person who wrote these personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/all-experiences-change-us-and-personal-writing-is-one-of-the-most/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/578/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_change_all-experiences-change-us-and-personal-w_329993.jpg)

> [“Writers use both their blood and their brains to explore the darkest recesses of their pooling self. Writing allows us to harness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writers-use-both-their-blood-and-their-brains-to-explore-the-darkest/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_change-your-life_writers-use-both-their-blood-and-their-b_2204641.jpg)

> [“Autobiographical writing stands as lasting memorial for enduring the travails of an earthly life. Writing is an apt technique to score our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/autobiographical-writing-stands-as-lasting-memorial-for-enduring-the/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_artistic-expression_autobiographical-writing-stands-as-lasti_3012842.jpg)

> [Now the truth is, writing is a great way to deal with a lot of difficult emotional issues. It can be very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/now-the-truth-is-writing-is-a-great-way-to-deal-with-a-lot-of/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/484/patrick-rothfuss-145_appropriate_now-the-truth-is-writing-is-a-great-way_1322294.jpg)

> [“The principal theme of any autobiography revolves around the brushwork of self-transformation, the freeing of the self from the strictures of self-imposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-principal-theme-of-any-autobiography-revolves-around-the/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe9/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_autobiographical_the-principal-theme-of-any-autobiography_2262558.jpg)

> [As a student at the time, I kind of felt like my only options as a nonfiction writer were to either jump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/as-a-student-at-the-time-i-kind-of-felt-like-my-only-options-as-a/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3e/john-d-agata-13689_bus_as-a-student-at-the-time-i-kind-of-felt_2204980.jpg)

> [For years following the death of my mother, I wanted to write about her. I started writing what I thought of as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/for-years-following-the-death-of-my-mother-i-wanted-to-write-about/)

[Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/562/tracy-k-smith-8847_death_for-years-following-the-death-of-my-moth_64036.png)

> [“Personal essay writing that incites the mind and instigates personal growth involves examination and re-examination, a process of noticing and reflecting upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-essay-writing-that-incites-the-mind-and-instigates-personal/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f3/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_author_personal-essay-writing-that-incites-the_1237366.jpg)

> [“The writer’s obsessions are twofold. First, communicate their thoughts onto paper with a great degree of precision in order accurately to express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-writer-s-obsessions-are-twofold-first-communicate-their-thoughts/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_essayist_the-writer-s-obsessions-are-twofold-firs_215780.jpg)

> [Nowadays I imagine people find freer and more accepting venues in blogs, on Tumblr and Instagram and Facebook, in the riot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/nowadays-i-imagine-people-find-freer-and-more-accepting-venues-in/)

[Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/charles-d-ambrosio-22903_accepting_nowadays-i-imagine-people-find-freer-and_295495.jpg)

> [“Writing is a pitched battle with the elusive self, a contest that resultant celebratory jubilee demonstrates the writer’s innate capacity to meld…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-a-pitched-battle-with-the-elusive-self-a-contest-that/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd4/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_autobiography_writing-is-a-pitched-battle-with-the-elu_203485.jpg)

> [“Writing is mental exercise and the preeminent method to train the mind to achieve a desirable state of mental quietude. Meditative writing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-mental-exercise-and-the-preeminent-method-to-train-the/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfc/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_authentic-living_writing-is-mental-exercise-and-the-preem_2290813.jpg)

> [“Writers’ never-ending quest involves investigating genuineness while carving out narrative nonfiction. They must strive to reach great truths by recounting untold lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writers-never-ending-quest-involves-investigating-genuineness-while/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cc/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_adventure_writers-never-ending-quest-involves-inve_2247719.jpg)

> [“The story of what it means to be human is never complete. Every generation will produce its own share of comedies and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-story-of-what-it-means-to-be-human-is-never-complete-every/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a9/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_human-spirit_the-story-of-what-it-means-to-be-human-i_557022.jpg)

> [“A shaman and a writer each serve as their communities’ seers by engaging in extraordinary acts of conscientious study of the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-shaman-and-a-writer-each-serve-as-their-communities-seers-by/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_autobiography_a-shaman-and-a-writer-each-serve-as-thei_2542278.jpg)

> [“The language that we employ in internal and written communications with oneself contains complex thoughts. My written self-speech employs language that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-language-that-we-employ-in-internal-and-written-communications/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9eb/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_communication_the-language-that-we-employ-in-internal_2246769.jpg)

> [“Practical affairs task the human brain throughout the day. At night, the mind takes a deserved hiatus to consider the impossible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/practical-affairs-task-the-human-brain-throughout-the-day-at-night/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_absurd_practical-affairs-task-the-human-brain-t_2351173.jpg)

> [I believe the personal essay is underrated for both writer and reader. It affords the writer great freedom: to speak personally yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-nemko/i-believe-the-personal-essay-is-underrated-for-both-writer-and-reader/)

[Marty Nemko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-nemko/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e87/marty-nemko-20791_be-confident_i-believe-the-personal-essay-is-underrat_1020664.jpg)

> [“Writing is emblematic art form, which means that the book will never be any greater than the writer’s ability to perceive, classify,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-emblematic-art-form-which-means-that-the-book-will-never/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_art_writing-is-emblematic-art-form-which-mea_1072554.jpg)

> [“Personal essay writing is analogous to undertaking a vision quest, a potential turning point in life taken to discover intimate personal truths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-essay-writing-is-analogous-to-undertaking-a-vision-quest-a/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97f/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_dreams_personal-essay-writing-is-analogous-to-u_524581.jpg)

> [I'd written personal essays before, but never on this scale -- never so often and with such, er, honesty. (If by honesty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/i-d-written-personal-essays-before-but-never-on-this-scale-never-so/)

[Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/ayelet-waldman-3229_computer_i-d-written-personal-essays-before-but-n_1321183.jpg)

> [“Storytelling is ultimately the only way that we know besides song, dance, painting, and music to share with our tribesmen what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/storytelling-is-ultimately-the-only-way-that-we-know-besides-song/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_essayist_storytelling-is-ultimately-the-only-way_1028782.jpg)

> [“Writing is an exhausting and demoralizing task that destroys human conceits. Writing an elongated series of personal essay opens a person’s mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-an-exhausting-and-demoralizing-task-that-destroys-human/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_autobiography_writing-is-an-exhausting-and-demoralizin_2179320.jpg)

> [“We write, edit, and rewrite the story of our own life employing descriptive words, metaphors, and symbols. Our lives are full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/we-write-edit-and-rewrite-the-story-of-our-own-life-employing/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_aspects-of-life_we-write-edit-and-rewrite-the-story-of-o_1645935.jpg)

> [“The communication function of modern writers is akin to the ancient role fulfilled by tribal shamans. All writers ultimately perform a shamanistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-communication-function-of-modern-writers-is-akin-to-the-ancient/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/407/kilroy-j-oldster-1049_communication_the-communication-function-of-modern-wri_2710549.jpg)

## Top authors on Personal essays

- [Kilroy J. Oldster 24 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-essays/kilroy-j-oldster/)

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                        "text": "While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.",
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                        "text": "I could write another collection of personal essays from what has happened to me in the last year alone. I don't seek out my material - it finds me. I am magnetic, somehow.",
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                        "text": "Another benefit is that the more I blog, the more I maintain and develop a first-person voice, which translates into a much greater ease with writing personal essays.",
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                        "text": "The forms of the short, written poem as they have been developed in English over the past few centuries can be usefully seen as compressed, truncated, or fragmented imitations of other verbal forms, especially the play, story, public oration, and personal essay.",
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                        "text": "Novels are my favorite to write and read. I do like writing personal essays, too. I'm not really a short story writer, nor do I tend to gravitate to them as a reader.",
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                        "text": "Now the truth is, writing is a great way to deal with a lot of difficult emotional issues. It can be very therapeutic, but that's best done in your journal, or on your blog if you're an exhibitionist. Trying to put a bunch of *specific* stuff from your personal life into your story usually just isn't appropriate unless you're writing a memoir or a personal essay or something of the sort.",
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                        "text": "“The principal theme of any autobiography revolves around the brushwork of self-transformation, the freeing of the self from the strictures of self-imposed limitations, fears, and doubts. Autobiographical writing represents a heroic journey towards self-discovery; it enables us to get to know ourselves, and initiate a new phase where we begin thinking of the needs of other people.”",
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                        "text": "As a student at the time, I kind of felt like my only options as a nonfiction writer were to either jump on the personal essay bus or linger back at the station, hoping that some other heretofore unknown mode of transportation was going to magically show up to take me where I wanted to go.",
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                            "name": "John D'Agata"
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                        "text": "For years following the death of my mother, I wanted to write about her. I started writing what I thought of as personal essays about growing up as her child, but I never could finish any of them. I think I was too close to that loss, and too eager to try and resolve things, to make her death make sense.",
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                        "text": "“Personal essay writing that incites the mind and instigates personal growth involves examination and re-examination, a process of noticing and reflecting upon what a person perceives. Essayistic writing is an osmotic process wherein a person intuitively absorbs information and ideas, allows inchoate thoughts to gestate in the unconscious mind, and then consciously places the emergent strands of language and logic into an orderly and expressive format.”",
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                        "text": "“The writer’s obsessions are twofold. First, communicate their thoughts onto paper with a great degree of precision in order accurately to express everything that they know. Secondly, to gain a better understanding regarding concepts such as truth, beauty, love, friendship, loyalty, freedom, and the reason for existence by attempting to express in words what these ideas mean to them.”",
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                        "text": "Nowadays I imagine people find freer and more accepting venues in blogs, on Tumblr and Instagram and Facebook, in the riot of shouting that trails in the wake of every news story. So there's always the pandemonium of the Internet, if you need to get your lunatic opinions out in public. I find most of that stuff a little insane-making and my preference is to encounter personal essays in the relatively sedate and stable universe of print, in literary quarterlies, magazines and books. But I'm sure you can find plenty of good stuff in lonely outposts all across the World Wide Web.",
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                            "name": "Charles D'Ambrosio"
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                        "text": "“Writing is a pitched battle with the elusive self, a contest that resultant celebratory jubilee demonstrates the writer’s innate capacity to meld abstract ideas with concrete forms. Writers must attempt simultaneously to juggle opposing ideas, notions, impressions, and images. They must lash out in an effort to tear apart past platitudes, while also laboring to construct new analogues to express and explain their evolving values based upon continuous interactions with reality. Writers seek to ferret out the comedic rooted in the tragic. They must learn how to laugh and cry with equal vim.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Writing is mental exercise and the preeminent method to train the mind to achieve a desirable state of mental quietude. Meditative writing, a single pointed concentration of mental activity, induces an altered state of consciousness. Writing is studious rumination, a means to converse with our personal muse. Writing entails a period of forced solitude that enables us to meet and conduct a searching conversation with our authentic self. This contemplative dialogue with our true self is transformational. Writing is not a mere act but a journey of the mind into heretofore-unknown frontiers of the self.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Writers’ never-ending quest involves investigating genuineness while carving out narrative nonfiction. They must strive to reach great truths by recounting untold lies with acute enthusiasm. Culmination of a sprawling personal saga is an attempt to flesh out from the ichors of a person’s reptilian instincts and mammalian brain patterns the epicene embodiment of the originator’s dream works intermingled with their actual remembered sensory observations. One unleashes their cache of blood-tinged memories along with an X-ray beam of reminiscent enlightenment to forge a flowing stream of self-consciousness dedicated to the task of hunting out a new way of perceiving, thinking, and communicating.”",
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                        "text": "“The story of what it means to be human is never complete. Every generation will produce its own share of comedies and tragedies, fools and geniuses. What the Greeks started the rest of the world will continue to build upon. The old stories will continue to explicate where we came from, while the new stories will illuminate in what direction humankind trends. The collection of future stories of humanity will add to the cumulative library of stories that past writers told, an anthology of collaborative stories will shed light upon the singleness of the human spirit in its aspirations, powers, vicissitudes, and wisdom.”",
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                        "text": "“A shaman and a writer each serve as their communities’ seers by engaging in extraordinary acts of conscientious study of the past and the present and predicting the future. An inner voice calls to the shaman and an essayistic writer to answer the call that vexes the pernicious spirit of their times. Shamanistic writers induce a trance state of mind where they lose contact with physical reality through a rational disordering of the senses, in an effort to encounter for the umpteenth time the great unknown and the unutterable truths that structure existence. An afflicted person seeking clarification of existence cannot ignore the shamanistic calling of narrative exposition. Thus, I shall continue this longwinded howl – making a personal immortality vessel – into the darkness of night forevermore.”",
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                        "text": "“The language that we employ in internal and written communications with oneself contains complex thoughts. My written self-speech employs language that is more sophisticated than my rather crude internal dialogue employs. Language allows us to capture thoughts. The cerebral act of writing also unleashes additional thoughts as we link progressive sentences together in a thoughtful and logically sequential manner. The ability of written dialogues to marshal sophisticated language and impose organization over the composed thoughts in logical sentences and paragraphs acts to enhance our cognitive thought processes.”",
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                        "text": "“Practical affairs task the human brain throughout the day. At night, the mind takes a deserved hiatus to consider the impossible and the absurd. In the carnage of our nighttime sleep tussles, the colored liqueurs of the true, the possible, fantasy, and the mythic beliefs become intermixed. Eyelets of the commonsensical and the imaginative are incorporated, and a new realism emerges out of our distilled perception of the veridical derived from the phenomenal realm of sensory reality and the philosophic world of ideals contained in the noumenal realm. The resultant psychobiologic vision immerses us in bouts of intoxicating inspiration and artistic stimulation and leaves us rickety boned and weakened after enduring a dreaded hangover of perpetual doubt laced with vagueness and insecurity.”",
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                        "text": "“Writing is an exhausting and demoralizing task that destroys human conceits. Writing an elongated series of personal essay opens a person’s mind to explore paradoxes and discover previously unrealized personal truths. Writing is as arduous as any trek into the wilderness. Every sentence takes a writer deeper into the jungle of the mind, a world of frightening inconsistencies created by our waking life’s desire that the world of chaos conform to our convenience.”",
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