--- title: "18 Write Quotes By Joan Didion" description: "18 Write quotes by Joan Didion. Plus more from Joan Didion and more Write sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80d/joan-didion-497_think_i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write_3224892.jpg" --- > [I don't know what I think until I write it down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write-it-down/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80d/joan-didion-497_think_i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write_3224892.jpg) > [“I write to know what I think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-to-know-what-i-think/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cb/joan-didion-497_writing_i-write-to-know-what-i-think-883737_883737.jpg) > [I don't write for catharsis; I have to write to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-write-to-understand/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81e/joan-didion-497_catharsis_i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-wr_2133465.jpg) > [We write to discover what we think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-write-to-discover-what-we-think/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/joan-didion-497_discover_we-write-to-discover-what-we-think-54379_543793.jpg) > [I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at. What I see and what I fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-thinking-what-i-m-looking-at/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_1286817.jpg) > [The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/the-truth-is-it-s-easier-for-me-to-write-than-talk-to-express-the/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/joan-didion-497_any_the-truth-is-it-s-easier-for-me-to-write_2294186.jpg) > [Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/had-i-been-blessed-with-even-limited-access-to-my-own-mind-there/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e56/joan-didion-497_access_had-i-been-blessed-with-even-limited-acc_2614370.jpg) > [On the whole, I don't want to think too much about why I write what I write. If I know what I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-much-about-why-i-write-what-i/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/joan-didion-497_i-can_on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-m_3134320.jpg) > [If you want to understand what you're thinking, you kind of have to work it through and write it. And the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-thinking-you-kind-of-have-to/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/joan-didion-497_ifs_if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-th_1291159.jpg) > [“I began to make notes. I began to write down everything I saw and heard and remembered and imagined. I began to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-down-everything-i-saw-and/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/joan-didion-497_joan-didion_i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-d_1689770.jpg) > [Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg) > [I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-thinking-what-i-m-looking-at-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_3186147.jpg) > [Once in a while, when I first started to write pieces, I would try to write to a reader other than myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to-write-pieces-i-would-try-to/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/joan-didion-497_always_once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to_2967804.jpg) > [I was four or five, and my mother gave me a big black tablet, because I kept complaining that I was bored.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me-a-big-black-tablet-because-i/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/182/joan-didion-497_bigs_i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me_2644181.jpg) > [Had my credentials been in order I would never have become a writer. Had I been blessed with even limited access to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would-never-have-become-a-writer/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d05/joan-didion-497_access_had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would_1888929.jpg) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/joan-didion-497_five-years_why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-reme_2735665.jpg) > [“The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/the-impulse-to-write-things-down-is-a-peculiarly-compulsive-one-4/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/joan-didion-497_compulsion_the-impulse-to-write-things-down-is-a-pe_3139195.jpg) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/589/joan-didion-497_five-years_why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-reme_16027.jpg) ## Other authors on Write ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/joan-didion/#itemlist", "name": "18 Write Quotes By Joan Didion", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't know what I think until I write it down.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write-it-down/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80d/joan-didion-497_think_i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write_3224892.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80d/joan-didion-497_think_i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write_3224892.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80d/joan-didion-497_think_i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write_3224892.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't know what I think until I write it down.” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I write to know what I think.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-to-know-what-i-think/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cb/joan-didion-497_writing_i-write-to-know-what-i-think-883737_883737.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cb/joan-didion-497_writing_i-write-to-know-what-i-think-883737_883737.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cb/joan-didion-497_writing_i-write-to-know-what-i-think-883737_883737.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I write to know what I think.” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't write for catharsis; I have to write to understand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-write-to-understand/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81e/joan-didion-497_catharsis_i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-wr_2133465.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81e/joan-didion-497_catharsis_i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-wr_2133465.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81e/joan-didion-497_catharsis_i-don-t-write-for-catharsis-i-have-to-wr_2133465.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't write for catharsis; I have to write to understand.” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We write to discover what we think.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-write-to-discover-what-we-think/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/joan-didion-497_discover_we-write-to-discover-what-we-think-54379_543793.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/joan-didion-497_discover_we-write-to-discover-what-we-think-54379_543793.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/joan-didion-497_discover_we-write-to-discover-what-we-think-54379_543793.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We write to discover what we think.” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at. What I see and what I fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-thinking-what-i-m-looking-at/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_1286817.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_1286817.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_1286817.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at. 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If I know what I'm doing ... I can't do it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-much-about-why-i-write-what-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/joan-didion-497_i-can_on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-m_3134320.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/joan-didion-497_i-can_on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-m_3134320.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/joan-didion-497_i-can_on-the-whole-i-don-t-want-to-think-too-m_3134320.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“On the whole, I don't want to think too much about why I write what I write. If I know what I'm doing ... I…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want to understand what you're thinking, you kind of have to work it through and write it. And the only way to work it through, for me, is to write it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-thinking-you-kind-of-have-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/joan-didion-497_ifs_if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-th_1291159.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/joan-didion-497_ifs_if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-th_1291159.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/joan-didion-497_ifs_if-you-want-to-understand-what-you-re-th_1291159.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want to understand what you're thinking, you kind of have to work it through and write it. And the…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I began to make notes. I began to write down everything I saw and heard and remembered and imagined. I began to write, or so I thought, another story.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-down-everything-i-saw-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/joan-didion-497_joan-didion_i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-d_1689770.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/joan-didion-497_joan-didion_i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-d_1689770.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/joan-didion-497_joan-didion_i-began-to-make-notes-i-began-to-write-d_1689770.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I began to make notes. I began to write down everything I saw and heard and remembered and imagined. I began…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-thinking-what-i-m-looking-at-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_3186147.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_3186147.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/joan-didion-497_fear_i-write-entirely-to-find-out-what-i-m-th_3186147.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once in a while, when I first started to write pieces, I would try to write to a reader other than myself. I always failed. I would freeze up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to-write-pieces-i-would-try-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/joan-didion-497_always_once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to_2967804.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/joan-didion-497_always_once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to_2967804.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/joan-didion-497_always_once-in-a-while-when-i-first-started-to_2967804.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once in a while, when I first started to write pieces, I would try to write to a reader other than myself. I…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was four or five, and my mother gave me a big black tablet, because I kept complaining that I was bored. She said, \"Then write something. Then you can read it.\" In fact, I had just learned to read, so this was a thrilling kind of moment. The idea that I could write something - and then read it!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me-a-big-black-tablet-because-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/182/joan-didion-497_bigs_i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me_2644181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/182/joan-didion-497_bigs_i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me_2644181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/182/joan-didion-497_bigs_i-was-four-or-five-and-my-mother-gave-me_2644181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was four or five, and my mother gave me a big black tablet, because I kept complaining that I was bored…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Had my credentials been in order I would never have become a writer. Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write. I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would-never-have-become-a-writer/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d05/joan-didion-497_access_had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would_1888929.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d05/joan-didion-497_access_had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would_1888929.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d05/joan-didion-497_access_had-my-credentials-been-in-order-i-would_1888929.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Had my credentials been in order I would never have become a writer. Had I been blessed with even limited…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of it actually happened? Did any of it? Why do I keep a notebook at all? It is easy to deceive oneself on all those scores. The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. 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How…” — Joan Didion", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up. 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In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of it actually happened? Any of it? Why do I keep a notebook at all? It is easy to deceive oneself on all those scores. The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful if accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to wake up. 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