--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You don't think anyone who lives an…" description: "\"You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has plenty of trouble and torment to write about?\" — David Shields" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg" --- # You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has… ![“You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has plenty of trouble and torment to write about?” quote by David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg) > “You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has plenty of trouble and torment to write about?” [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ordinary lives contain enough suffering to inspire writing, questioning the need for extraordinary experience. **In simple terms:** Everyday people have enough pain for stories. Key Takeaway Seek stories in everyday struggles. Themes writing empathy ordinary life Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journalism - creative writing - personal essays Key Concepts Narrative authenticity human condition Questions to Reflect On - What ordinary moments could become compelling narratives? - How does focusing on everyday pain affect your writing? A Different Perspective Not all writers find depth in the mundane; some may still crave drama. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Ordinary life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-life/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Writers…born not in the Halls of Education…but in the fires of necessity. Masters not of prose, form, language, or a perceived command of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladislas-nikilovic/writers-born-not-in-the-halls-of-education-but-in-the-fires-of/) [Vladislas Nikilovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladislas-nikilovic/) > [Our lives are at once ordinary and mythical. At the same instant we have these magnificent hearts that pump through all sorrow and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-lives-are-at-once-ordinary-and-mythical-at-the-same-instant-we/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [We often don’t realize that the extraordinary is to be found in the lives of ordinary people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-often-don-t-realize-that-the-extraordinary-is-to-be-found-in-the/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“If we see their (Navajo) lives and festivals as fantastic and our lives as ordinary, we come to writing with a sense of poverty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-see-their-navajo-lives-and-festivals-as-fantastic-and-our-lives/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Extraordinary magic is woven through ordinary life. Look around!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/extraordinary-magic-is-woven-through-ordinary-life-look-around/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [All writers are obviously neurotic... For various reasons, writers retreat into an imaginary world because they find ordinary life rather difficult or boring or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-koch/all-writers-are-obviously-neurotic-for-various-reasons-writers/) [Christopher Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-koch/) > [Glamour is a beautiful illusion - the word 'glamour' originally meant a literal magic spell - that promises to transcend ordinary life and make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/glamour-is-a-beautiful-illusion-the-word-glamour-originally-meant-a/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) > [I should love to do a novel, about one abnormal character seeing present-day life, very ordinary life, yet arresting through it, abnormality, until at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-should-love-to-do-a-novel-about-one-abnormal-character-seeing/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [Once in the middle of an ordinary life,love gives us all a fairy tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-in-the-middle-of-an-ordinary-life-love-gives-us-all-a-fairy-tale/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Women who were housewives, who were pretty miserable ... felt inspired by her book and their life changed. They didn't become megastars, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/women-who-were-housewives-who-were-pretty-miserable-felt-inspired-by/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [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/) > [Now, occultism is not like mystic faculty, and it very seldom works in harmony either with business aptitude in the things of ordinary life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-waite/now-occultism-is-not-like-mystic-faculty-and-it-very-seldom-works-in/) [A. E. Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-waite/) > [My work involves the physical manifestation of emotional reality. Thus, the invisible becomes visible; the normal, abnormal; and the familiar, unfamiliar. Ordinary life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-skoglund/my-work-involves-the-physical-manifestation-of-emotional-reality-thus/) [Sandy Skoglund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-skoglund/) > [A virtuous, ordinary life, striving for wisdom but never far from folly, is achievement enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/a-virtuous-ordinary-life-striving-for-wisdom-but-never-far-from-folly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by David Shields > [To be honest, there are parts of 'How Literature Saved My Life' that began as interviews. Someone was telling me that they think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/to-be-honest-there-are-parts-of-how-literature-saved-my-life-that/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [I'm very drawn to the way in which a life lived can be an art of sorts or a failed art, and a life-lived-told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-m-very-drawn-to-the-way-in-which-a-life-lived-can-be-an-art-of/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [People like Ian McEwan and Jonathan Franzen completely bore me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/people-like-ian-mcewan-and-jonathan-franzen-completely-bore-me/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [You're one of 6.5 billion people now on the planet, and 99.9 percent of your genes are the same as everyone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-re-one-of-6-5-billion-people-now-on-the-planet-and-99-9-percent/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [We're completely confused about the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. To me, the moment you compose, you're fictionalising; the moment you remember, you're dreaming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/we-re-completely-confused-about-the-boundaries-between-fiction-and/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Your art is most alive and dangerous when you use it against yourself. That's why I pick at my scabs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/your-art-is-most-alive-and-dangerous-when-you-use-it-against-yourself/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Everything I write, I believe instinctively, is to some extent collage. Meaning, ultimately, is a matter of adjacent data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/everything-i-write-i-believe-instinctively-is-to-some-extent-collage/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Swimming is by far the best tonic I've found for my back. I'm not a good swimmer - I do the breaststroke or elementary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/swimming-is-by-far-the-best-tonic-i-ve-found-for-my-back-i-m-not-a/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [I've always liked this idea that writing should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable to create trouble. The value of a work of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing-should-comfort-the-afflicted/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [The beauty of reality-based art - art underwritten by reality hunger - is that it's perfectly situated between life itself and (unattainable) "life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-beauty-of-reality-based-art-art-underwritten-by-reality-hunger-is/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [“A great book allows me to leap over that wall: in a deep, significant conversation with another consciousness, I feel human and unalone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/a-great-book-allows-me-to-leap-over-that-wall-in-a-deep-significant/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [The novel is dead. Long live the antinovel, built from scraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-novel-is-dead-long-live-the-antinovel-built-from-scraps/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [I am exhausted by traditional memoir. I am exhausted by the architecture of the conventional novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-am-exhausted-by-traditional-memoir-i-am-exhausted-by-the/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [I couldn't tell a story if my life depended on it. I'm the world's worst joke-teller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-couldn-t-tell-a-story-if-my-life-depended-on-it-i-m-the-world-s/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [The absence of plot leaves the reader room to think about other things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-absence-of-plot-leaves-the-reader-room-to-think-about-other-things/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) [Explore all 77 David Shields quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has plenty of trouble and torment to write about?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Shields" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordinary-life-has-plenty-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordinary-life-has-plenty-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/david-shields-8815_life_you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordi_1533061.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You don't think anyone who lives an ordinary life has plenty of trouble and torment to write about?” — David Shields", "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": "David Shields", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You don't think anyone who lives...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordinary-life-has-plenty-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-don-t-think-anyone-who-lives-an-ordinary-life-has-plenty-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 } } ] } ```