--- title: "11 Write Quotes By Grace Paley" description: "11 Write quotes by Grace Paley. Plus more from Grace Paley and more Write sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad1/grace-paley-3243_crafts_write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-d_2346885.png" --- > [Write from what you know into what you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-don-t-know/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad1/grace-paley-3243_crafts_write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-d_2346885.png) > [Write what will stop your breath if you don’t write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/write-what-will-stop-your-breath-if-you-don-t-write/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc2/grace-paley-3243_breath_write-what-will-stop-your-breath-if-you_2163189.png) > [“You write from what you know but you write into what you don't know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/you-write-from-what-you-know-but-you-write-into-what-you-don-t-know/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/grace-paley-3243_write_you-write-from-what-you-know-but-you-wri_2922264.png) > [We write about what we don't know about what we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/we-write-about-what-we-don-t-know-about-what-we-know/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/grace-paley-3243_know_we-write-about-what-we-don-t-know-about_1139560.png) > [I didn't write any fiction until I was past thirty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-didn-t-write-any-fiction-until-i-was-past-thirty/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/grace-paley-3243_fiction_i-didn-t-write-any-fiction-until-i-was-p_510148.png) > [I might write four lines or I might write twenty. I subtract and I add until I really hit something I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-might-write-four-lines-or-i-might-write-twenty-i-subtract-and-i-add/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f3/grace-paley-3243_add_i-might-write-four-lines-or-i-might-writ_2941856.png) > [I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to-write-because-i-don-t-have-a/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg) > [In prose, I think you sometimes have to write in very plain language, where every line may not seem to be so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/in-prose-i-think-you-sometimes-have-to-write-in-very-plain-language/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f9/grace-paley-3243_every_in-prose-i-think-you-sometimes-have-to-w_1259590.png) > ['The Immigrant Story,' which took me about twenty-five years to write, was a very simple story, but I couldn't think of how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about-twenty-five-years-to-write/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/grace-paley-3243_about_the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about_2779361.jpg) > [Every time you finish something ... you figure you've finally learned to write, right? Then you start something else and it turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/every-time-you-finish-something-you-figure-you-ve-finally-learned-to/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be6/grace-paley-3243_book_every-time-you-finish-something-you-figu_1582773.png) > [The best training is to read and write, no matter what. Don't live with a lover or roommate who doesn't respect your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-no-matter-what-don-t-live-with/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/grace-paley-3243_breaths_the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-n_696565.jpg) ## Other authors on Write ## More by Grace Paley > [The only recognizable feature of hope is action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-only-recognizable-feature-of-hope-is-action/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“Near home I ran through our park, where I had aired my children on weekends and late-summer afternoons. I stopped at the northeast playground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/near-home-i-ran-through-our-park-where-i-had-aired-my-children-on/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Old age is not a good thing. It can be really hard, and those of us who have it a little easier should keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/old-age-is-not-a-good-thing-it-can-be-really-hard-and-those-of-us-who/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Well, by now you must know yourself, honey, whatever you do, life don't stop. It only sits a minute and dreams a dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/well-by-now-you-must-know-yourself-honey-whatever-you-do-life-don-t/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“Who cares?' said Judy, who didn't care.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/who-cares-said-judy-who-didn-t-care/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [The women's movement was coming, but I didn't know it in 1956-1957, when I began to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-women-s-movement-was-coming-but-i-didn-t-know-it-in-1956-1957/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [A joke is necessary at this time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/a-joke-is-necessary-at-this-time/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Sometimes, walking with a friend, I forget the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/sometimes-walking-with-a-friend-i-forget-the-world/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [It wasn't until I lived in the countryside that I began to understand the life of the countryside and the people in it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/it-wasn-t-until-i-lived-in-the-countryside-that-i-began-to-understand/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [I've started many novels, and they all ended on page seven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-ve-started-many-novels-and-they-all-ended-on-page-seven/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > […I go through a story for lies. I might discover the lie of trying to show off. Sometimes they’re lies of character. Sometimes they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-go-through-a-story-for-lies-i-might-discover-the-lie-of-trying-to/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [I didn't intend. The word "intend" is the wrong word for what I do. It's just that it's something you do, and you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-didn-t-intend-the-word-intend-is-the-wrong-word-for-what-i-do-it-s/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“... plot, the absolute line between two points which I've always despised. Not for literary reasons, but because it takes all hope away. Everyone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/plot-the-absolute-line-between-two-points-which-i-ve-always-despised/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [You come to doing what you do by not being able to do something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/you-come-to-doing-what-you-do-by-not-being-able-to-do-something/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [When I was about twenty-one, I published a few poems. Maybe I wrote a couple of stories before, but I really began to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/when-i-was-about-twenty-one-i-published-a-few-poems-maybe-i-wrote-a/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/grace-paley/#itemlist", "name": "11 Write Quotes By Grace Paley", "numberOfItems": 11, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Write from what you know into what you don't know.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Grace Paley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-don-t-know/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad1/grace-paley-3243_crafts_write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-d_2346885.png", "contentUrl": 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Then twenty years after I started it, I found this one page and realized it was going to be the story. That's the only way you get it sometimes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Grace Paley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about-twenty-five-years-to-write/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/grace-paley-3243_about_the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about_2779361.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/grace-paley-3243_about_the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about_2779361.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/grace-paley-3243_about_the-immigrant-story-which-took-me-about_2779361.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“'The Immigrant Story,' which took me about twenty-five years to write, was a very simple story, but I…” — Grace Paley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every time you finish something ... you figure you've finally learned to write, right? 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Write what will stop your breath if you don't write.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Grace Paley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-no-matter-what-don-t-live-with/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/grace-paley-3243_breaths_the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-n_696565.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/grace-paley-3243_breaths_the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-n_696565.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/grace-paley-3243_breaths_the-best-training-is-to-read-and-write-n_696565.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best training is to read and write, no matter what. Don't live with a lover or roommate who doesn't…” — Grace Paley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/grace-paley/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/grace-paley/", "name": "Write Quotes by Grace Paley", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/grace-paley/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad1/grace-paley-3243_crafts_write-from-what-you-know-into-what-you-d_2346885.png" }, "description": "11 Write quotes by Grace Paley. 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