--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd say, [writing memoir] not so much a…" description: "\"I'd say, [writing memoir] not so much a model, but maybe to provide an insight, here or there, to help somebody come to terms with the dark corners of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/cornel-west-708_capacity_i-d-say-writing-memoir-not-so-much-a-mod_376670.jpg" --- # I'd say, \[writing memoir\] not so much a model, but maybe… ![“I'd say, [writing memoir] not so much a model, but maybe to provide an insight, here or there, to help somebody come to terms with the dark corners of their own soul, to come to terms with the undecided, their own sense of self, and maybe help develop a capacity to love - to love wisdom, love…” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/cornel-west-708_capacity_i-d-say-writing-memoir-not-so-much-a-mod_376670.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/cornel-west-708_capacity_i-d-say-writing-memoir-not-so-much-a-mod_376670.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/cornel-west-708_capacity_i-d-say-writing-memoir-not-so-much-a-mod_376670.jpg) > “I'd say, \[writing memoir\] not so much a model, but maybe to provide an insight, here or there, to help somebody come to terms with the dark corners of their own soul, to come to terms with the undecided, their own sense of self, and maybe help develop a capacity to love - to love wisdom, love justice.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing memoirs can illuminate personal darkness, guide others toward self‑knowledge and love of wisdom and justice. **In simple terms:** Memoirs help people understand themselves and foster love for truth. Key Takeaway Write honestly to inspire self‑reflection. Themes self‑knowledge justice wisdom Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - writing workshops - community discussions - personal journaling Key Concepts psychology philosophy empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance honesty with sensitivity? - What stories best illustrate the journey toward love and justice? A Different Perspective Readers may resist confronting uncomfortable truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Capacity to love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity-to-love/) [Corners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corners/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Insight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insight/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-wisdom/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) [Memoir Model](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir-model-3424475/) [Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models/) [Provide Insight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/provide-insight-3424476/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Maybe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-maybe-1445813/) [Sense of self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-self/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Undecided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undecided/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-memoir-868555/) ## Related quotes > [I want to be out there learning from others, helping to provide insight whenever I can, though I don't consider myself an expert on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-gosselin/i-want-to-be-out-there-learning-from-others-helping-to-provide/) [Kate Gosselin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-gosselin/) > [There's the public self that we present to the outer world. There's the private self, which maybe takes more time to access. But ultimately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/there-s-the-public-self-that-we-present-to-the-outer-world-there-s/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I understand maybe some people are more impressionable than my hard, cynical self, but maybe they need to figure out how to be less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessa-crispin/i-understand-maybe-some-people-are-more-impressionable-than-my-hard/) [Jessa Crispin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessa-crispin/) > [In a time when everybody is talking about finding oneself, how do you find yourself? I wanted to do it as literally as possible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vito-acconci/in-a-time-when-everybody-is-talking-about-finding-oneself-how-do-you/) [Vito Acconci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vito-acconci/) > [I still haven't found the place where I can be my true self. But maybe you never get to be your true self, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/i-still-haven-t-found-the-place-where-i-can-be-my-true-self-but-maybe/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [Suppose you have a parallel self who has made different choices, who is following a different event track since you made certain choices in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/suppose-you-have-a-parallel-self-who-has-made-different-choices-who/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [The love of wisdom is a way of life; that is to say, it's a set of practices that have to do with mustering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-love-of-wisdom-is-a-way-of-life-that-is-to-say-it-s-a-set-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [There's simply no philosophizing without a love of wisdom, absolutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-s-simply-no-philosophizing-without-a-love-of-wisdom-absolutely/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Philosophy is in fact a quest for wisdom based in sophia; that quest for wisdom has everything to do with a love of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/philosophy-is-in-fact-a-quest-for-wisdom-based-in-sophia-that-quest/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I had a very high-grade publisher tell me I was incapable of writing a memoir.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/i-had-a-very-high-grade-publisher-tell-me-i-was-incapable-of-writing/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [ Writing a memoir isn't particularly interesting to me. I'm not like Ellen \[DeGeneres\], where I can write, 'Water bottles--they're crazy!' and it's funny. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-graham/writing-a-memoir-isn-t-particularly-interesting-to-me-i-m-not-like/) [Lauren Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-graham/) > [Writing your memoir is inherently narcissistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-jane-grace/writing-your-memoir-is-inherently-narcissistic/) [Laura Jane Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-jane-grace/) > [Usually, with a novel, you start with no idea what to do because your job is to create convincing characters and then they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/usually-with-a-novel-you-start-with-no-idea-what-to-do-because-your/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [When I first got sick, they told me I had a year to live, and I was writing my memoir really fast. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lurie/when-i-first-got-sick-they-told-me-i-had-a-year-to-live-and-i-was/) [John Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lurie/) > [I you're writing memoir, but it even comes up in fiction. People just assume that you're writing thinly veiled autobiography. And particularly, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-you-re-writing-memoir-but-it-even-comes-up-in-fiction-people-just/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Capacity quotes > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [And you can't complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn't that what everyone in the world wants to do? I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. 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