--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My head was a magpie's nest lined with…" description: "\"My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.\" — Alice Munro" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png" --- # My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps… ![“My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png) > “My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind is cluttered with vivid, fragmented facts, like a nest of shiny bits collected by a magpie. **In simple terms:** A mind overloaded with bright, disparate details. Key Takeaway Information overload can feel chaotic yet colorful. Themes cognition overload perception creativity memory Mood curious reflective Type metaphor observation When to use this quote - brainstorming sessions - research compilation - learning new subjects - creative writing Key Concepts attention information processing mental clutter Practical Applications - organizing data - enhancing focus Questions to Reflect On - How does this metaphor affect your view of learning? - What strategies can tame such mental clutter? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bright Scraps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bright-scraps-1024115/) [Head Magpie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/head-magpie-1024113/) [Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information/) [Magpie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magpie/) [Magpie Nest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magpie-nest-1024112/) [Magpies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magpies/) [Nests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests/) [Scrap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scrap/) [Scraps Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scraps-information-1024114/) ## Related quotes > [Magpie, n.: A bird whose theivish disposition suggested to someone that it might be taught to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/magpie-n-a-bird-whose-theivish-disposition-suggested-to-someone-that/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [I never really got obsessed about one thing for long. I was a bit of a butterfly and a magpie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/i-never-really-got-obsessed-about-one-thing-for-long-i-was-a-bit-of-a/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [I like sparkles; I think I'm a magpie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-faith/i-like-sparkles-i-think-i-m-a-magpie/) [Paloma Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-faith/) > [I have a magpie mind. I like anything that glitters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-a-magpie-mind-i-like-anything-that-glitters/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Suburbia Knocks by Stewart Stafford Covert dawn's surreptitious light, A magpie sentry's warning song, Swooping, scanning silent streets, Cackling danger all night long. Metallic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/suburbia-knocks-by-stewart-stafford-covert-dawn-s-surreptitious-light/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [I'm like a magpie. I use lots of different things to build a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lincoln/i-m-like-a-magpie-i-use-lots-of-different-things-to-build-a-character/) [Andrew Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lincoln/) > [A journal is a repository for all those fragmentary ideas and odd scraps of information that might otherwise be lost and which some day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-journal-is-a-repository-for-all-those-fragmentary-ideas-and-odd/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Culture is activity of thought, and receptiveness to beauty and humane feeling. Scraps of information have nothing to do with it. A merely well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/culture-is-activity-of-thought-and-receptiveness-to-beauty-and-humane/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [I am a magpie. My eye collects details.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-cox/i-am-a-magpie-my-eye-collects-details/) [Patrick Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-cox/) > [“A magpie, seeing some light-colored object conspicuous on the empty slope, flew closer to look. but all that lay there was a splintered peg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/a-magpie-seeing-some-light-colored-object-conspicuous-on-the-empty/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [I try not to be superstitious, but, you know, we never put any shoes on the table. That's totally against the law in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/i-try-not-to-be-superstitious-but-you-know-we-never-put-any-shoes-on/) [Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/) > [“A magpie can be happy or sad: sometimes so happy that he sits on a high, high gum tree and rolls the sunrise around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-thiele/a-magpie-can-be-happy-or-sad-sometimes-so-happy-that-he-sits-on-a/) [Colin Thiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-thiele/) > [When you find the jewel of a thousand empires, every small magpie is your enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allun-hillman/when-you-find-the-jewel-of-a-thousand-empires-every-small-magpie-is/) [Allun Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allun-hillman/) > [I'm a bit of a fashion magpie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilde/i-m-a-bit-of-a-fashion-magpie/) [Gabriella Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilde/) > [“She blushed and we smiled at her, when the Magpie saw us kissing passionately below the Acacia tree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/she-blushed-and-we-smiled-at-her-when-the-magpie-saw-us-kissing/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure-you-don-t-think-about-it-a/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More Information quotes > [Intel has a very complete process that I go through any time I want to sell that ensures I have no insider information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-krzanich/intel-has-a-very-complete-process-that-i-go-through-any-time-i-want/) [Brian Krzanich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-krzanich/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“We know that children with autism like order, that they are often very visual and that they can be quite literal. They deserve beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele-devine/we-know-that-children-with-autism-like-order-that-they-are-often-very/) [Adele Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele-devine/) > [I'm not going to be part of looking at information only partially. I'm not going to be part of just coming to quick conclusions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-cleland/i-m-not-going-to-be-part-of-looking-at-information-only-partially-i-m/) [Max Cleland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-cleland/) > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [I didn't expect to be so comfortable handing my child off to a nanny without getting any of her information. As soon as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-wong/i-didn-t-expect-to-be-so-comfortable-handing-my-child-off-to-a-nanny/) [Ali Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-wong/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and employ almost half of the working population. Yet because of their size, they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-lipinski/small-businesses-are-the-backbone-of-the-american-economy-and-employ/) [Dan Lipinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-lipinski/) > [Information is money, but data is squat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-llama-butler/information-is-money-but-data-is-squat/) [Angela Llama-Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-llama-butler/) > [In essence, I see the value of journalism as resting in a twofold mission: informing the public of accurate and vital information, and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/in-essence-i-see-the-value-of-journalism-as-resting-in-a-twofold/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [There's nothing more special than intellect and labour that makes painting work. There's no magic there; it's information, and it's work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/there-s-nothing-more-special-than-intellect-and-labour-that-makes/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [That's what makes a human a human, if we store information outside our bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/that-s-what-makes-a-human-a-human-if-we-store-information-outside-our/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [My hope is that if people have the knowledge, and if they actually see where their food comes from and have access to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/my-hope-is-that-if-people-have-the-knowledge-and-if-they-actually-see/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [The mere imparting of information is not education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/the-mere-imparting-of-information-is-not-education/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) [Browse all 6,395 Information quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Information" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/alice-munro-1231_information_my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-s_80071.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Munro", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My head was a magpie's nest...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```