--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All my books started out as extravagant…" description: "\"All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.\" — Annie Dillard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg" --- # All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure… ![“All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg) > “All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes a transformation from ornate ideas to simple clarity in writing. **In simple terms:** Writing often simplifies over time. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity in your work. Themes creativity writing clarity Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - author drafts - editing - publishing - teaching writing Key Concepts minimalism evolution of ideas Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance detail with clarity? - When does simplicity become oversimplification? A Different Perspective Simplicity may lose nuance or depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Ended Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ended-pure-1232963/) [Extravagant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extravagant/) [Extravagant Ended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extravagant-ended-1232961/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Pure Plain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure-plain-1232962/) [Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started/) [Started Extravagant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-extravagant-1232960/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) ## Related quotes > [The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-extravagant-gesture-is-the-very-stuff-of-creation/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/after-the-one-extravagant-gesture-of-creation-in-the-first-place-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I don't like giving a gift just to cross the person off my list. They don't have to be extravagant or expensive things, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-facinelli/i-don-t-like-giving-a-gift-just-to-cross-the-person-off-my-list-they/) [Peter Facinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-facinelli/) > [I cap myself when I shop; I don't like to spend extravagant amounts on clothes. But, I do get lent clothes for events, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-cap-myself-when-i-shop-i-don-t-like-to-spend-extravagant-amounts-on/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Islands are havens and breeding grounds for the unique and anomalous. They are natural laboratories of extravagant evolutionary experimentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/islands-are-havens-and-breeding-grounds-for-the-unique-and-anomalous/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [New York... Babylon-on-the-Hudson, sinful, extravagant, full of the nervous hilarity of the doomed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-beebe/new-york-babylon-on-the-hudson-sinful-extravagant-full-of-the-nervous/) [Lucius Beebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-beebe/) > [I always say you can never be extravagant with beauty. Beauty is God made real. Beauty is life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imelda-marcos/i-always-say-you-can-never-be-extravagant-with-beauty-beauty-is-god/) [Imelda Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imelda-marcos/) > [ Her \[Mary's\] motherhood extends beyond view. In the will of the Son, she becomes at once mother and maid: sheltering him, but sheltered in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-von-speyr/her-mary-s-motherhood-extends-beyond-view-in-the-will-of-the-son-she/) [Adrienne von Speyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-von-speyr/) > [God's extravagant generosity toward us compels us to be extravagantly generous toward others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/god-s-extravagant-generosity-toward-us-compels-us-to-be-extravagantly/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [Rarity gives a charm; so early fruits and winter roses are the most prized; and coyness sets off an extravagant mistress, while the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/rarity-gives-a-charm-so-early-fruits-and-winter-roses-are-the-most/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [People say, 'Oh, to be the daughter of Picasso!' But it's not as extravagant as it seems. He was very special, very vibrant, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-picasso/people-say-oh-to-be-the-daughter-of-picasso-but-it-s-not-as/) [Paloma Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-picasso/) > [His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/his-courtesy-was-somewhat-extravagant-he-would-write-and-thank-people/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [I read the most extravagant things about people who suffer and depress because of things written about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-read-the-most-extravagant-things-about-people-who-suffer-and/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [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/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Annie Dillard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant-and-ended-up-pure-and-plain/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant-and-ended-up-pure-and-plain/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/annie-dillard-509_book_all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant_2519015.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All my books started out as extravagant and ended up pure and plain.” — Annie Dillard", "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": "Annie Dillard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All my books started out as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant-and-ended-up-pure-and-plain/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/all-my-books-started-out-as-extravagant-and-ended-up-pure-and-plain/#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 } } ] } ```