--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once I read autobiography as what the…" description: "\"Once I read autobiography as what the writer thought about his or her life. Now I think, 'This is what they thought at that time'. An interim report - ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/doris-lessing-501_autobiography_once-i-read-autobiography-as-what-the-wr_1900792.png" --- # Once I read autobiography as what the writer thought about… ![“Once I read autobiography as what the writer thought about his or her life. Now I think, 'This is what they thought at that time'. An interim report - that is what an autobiography is.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/doris-lessing-501_autobiography_once-i-read-autobiography-as-what-the-wr_1900792.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/doris-lessing-501_autobiography_once-i-read-autobiography-as-what-the-wr_1900792.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/doris-lessing-501_autobiography_once-i-read-autobiography-as-what-the-wr_1900792.png) > “Once I read autobiography as what the writer thought about his or her life. Now I think, 'This is what they thought at that time'. An interim report - that is what an autobiography is.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An autobiography reflects the writer’s past perspective, not a definitive truth, showing how self‑understanding evolves. **In simple terms:** Autobiographies capture past thoughts, not final facts. Key Takeaway Recognize the fluid nature of personal narratives. Themes memory subjectivity identity Mood nostalgic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing memoirs - historical research - personal therapy Key Concepts narrative truth self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does time change your view of past events? - What responsibilities do autobiographers have to truth? A Different Perspective Memories can be selective and biased. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography/) [Autobiography Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography-writer-2803870/) [Interim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interim/) [Read Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-autobiography-1501468/) [Report Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/report-autobiography-853196/) [Reports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reports/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-thought-260890/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [An interim report - that is what an autobiography is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/an-interim-report-that-is-what-an-autobiography-is/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Few men would dare to read their own autobiography if all their deeds were recorded in it; few can look back upon their entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/few-men-would-dare-to-read-their-own-autobiography-if-all-their-deeds/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [If you say a modern celebrity is an adulterer, a pervert and a drug addict, all it means is that you've read his autobiography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-say-a-modern-celebrity-is-an-adulterer-a-pervert-and-a-drug/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“One day someone is going to read my autobiography and say “Wow, what a horror novel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/one-day-someone-is-going-to-read-my-autobiography-and-say-wow-what-a/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [I've read 'Autobiography of a Yogi' at different ages and interpret something new each time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shriya-saran/i-ve-read-autobiography-of-a-yogi-at-different-ages-and-interpret/) [Shriya Saran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shriya-saran/) > [If you do not want to explore an egoism you should not read autobiography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/if-you-do-not-want-to-explore-an-egoism-you-should-not-read/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [When I first began to write fiction, I didn't think I was a comic writer; I thought I was a serious writer. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/when-i-first-began-to-write-fiction-i-didn-t-think-i-was-a-comic/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Like every Southern writer, I thought that I needed to write the next 'Gone With the Wind.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/like-every-southern-writer-i-thought-that-i-needed-to-write-the-next/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-order-to-learn-what-we-feel-it/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“When reading a book, you are sold what some writer thought. When reading a newspaper, you are sold what someone did, and, what some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/when-reading-a-book-you-are-sold-what-some-writer-thought-when/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I don't like to be described as a Southern writer. The danger is, if you're described as a Southern writer, you might be thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/i-don-t-like-to-be-described-as-a-southern-writer-the-danger-is-if/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“He was already beginning to understand that what was wrong with his writing was that there was something wrong, something misconceived, about him. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/he-was-already-beginning-to-understand-that-what-was-wrong-with-his/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think a lot of people assume you need to be born into a special creative family to have a career as a writer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fallon/i-think-a-lot-of-people-assume-you-need-to-be-born-into-a-special/) [Jane Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fallon/) > [I started out in graduate school to be a fiction writer. I thought I wanted to write short stories. I started writing poems at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-started-out-in-graduate-school-to-be-a-fiction-writer-i-thought-i/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [“There is a problem with writers. If what a writer wrote was published and sold many, many copies, the writer thought he was great.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/there-is-a-problem-with-writers-if-what-a-writer-wrote-was-published/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [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/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-remember-world-war-ii-when-there-were-very-few-books-very-little/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [They can't give a Nobel to someone who's dead so I think they were probably thinking they had better give it to me now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/they-can-t-give-a-nobel-to-someone-who-s-dead-so-i-think-they-were/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“While she strode rapidly through the ward to the door at the other end, she was able to see that every bed or cot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/while-she-strode-rapidly-through-the-ward-to-the-door-at-the-other/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think that marriage is one of my talents. I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Autobiography quotes > [I think anything that anyone writes thats any good is going to have a lot of autobiography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-adly-guirgis/i-think-anything-that-anyone-writes-thats-any-good-is-going-to-have-a/) [Stephen Adly Guirgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-adly-guirgis/) > [“I am not and autobiographical writer--one can't be without a solid and explicable self--and read all autobiographical writers with the same curiosity. What kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-am-not-and-autobiographical-writer-one-can-t-be-without-a-solid-and/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [“Someday, I want to write an unauthorized autobiography of myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mcmullen-sullivan/someday-i-want-to-write-an-unauthorized-autobiography-of-myself/) [David McMullen-Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mcmullen-sullivan/) > [“As well as writing, 2004 saw my first attempt at wine making: the elixir of life. Unfortunately, my effort tasted more like the elixir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-briggs/as-well-as-writing-2004-saw-my-first-attempt-at-wine-making-the/) [Craig Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-briggs/) > [I caught a cold and didn't have time to work on my autobiography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-doucet/i-caught-a-cold-and-didn-t-have-time-to-work-on-my-autobiography/) [Julie Doucet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-doucet/) > [Who ever heard, indeed, of an autobiography that was not (interesting)? I can recall none in all the literature of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-ever-heard-indeed-of-an-autobiography-that-was-not-interesting-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't really think of my essays as being about myself. I know it sounds insane, but I just don't think of them as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-don-t-really-think-of-my-essays-as-being-about-myself-i-know-it/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [The way I would live my life is: never do something in real life that I would not want to write about in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddharth-katragadda/the-way-i-would-live-my-life-is-never-do-something-in-real-life-that/) [Siddharth Katragadda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddharth-katragadda/) > [biography cannot be separated from autobiography: that is, the life written about is inextricably entangled with the life of the biographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-simon/biography-cannot-be-separated-from-autobiography-that-is-the-life/) [Linda Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-simon/) > [I think I'm like most novelists in that my books have gotten farther and farther away from autobiography the longer I've been writing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-i-m-like-most-novelists-in-that-my-books-have-gotten-farther/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [If you wish to understand me at all (and to write an autobiography is only to open a window into one's heart) you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-melba/if-you-wish-to-understand-me-at-all-and-to-write-an-autobiography-is/) [Nellie Melba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-melba/) > [I want an autobiography without revealing any personal information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-ross/i-want-an-autobiography-without-revealing-any-personal-information/) [Diana Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-ross/) > [I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-like-the-word-autobiography-i-rather-like-the-term/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/because-i-write-fiction-i-don-t-write-autobiography-and-to-me-they/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“I don't think anyone could write a completely honest autobiography. I am sure no one could bear to read it: My Past Was An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/i-don-t-think-anyone-could-write-a-completely-honest-autobiography-i/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) [Browse all 642 Autobiography quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once I read autobiography as what the writer thought about his or her life. Now I think, 'This is what they thought at that time'. 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