--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I discovered a long time ago that writing…" description: "\"I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ef/e-b-white-1448_accomplish_i-discovered-a-long-time-ago-that-writin_1535675.jpg" --- # I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small… ![“I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this living, was the only kind of creative work which I could accomplish with any sincerity or grace. As a reporter, I was a flop, because I always…” quote by E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ef/e-b-white-1448_accomplish_i-discovered-a-long-time-ago-that-writin_1535675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ef/e-b-white-1448_accomplish_i-discovered-a-long-time-ago-that-writin_1535675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ef/e-b-white-1448_accomplish_i-discovered-a-long-time-ago-that-writin_1535675.jpg) > “I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this living, was the only kind of creative work which I could accomplish with any sincerity or grace. As a reporter, I was a flop, because I always came back laden not with facts about the case, but with a mind full of the little difficulties and amusements I had encountered in my travels.” [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing about everyday, seemingly insignificant moments can be the most authentic and graceful form of creative expression. **In simple terms:** Small daily details inspire sincere art. Key Takeaway Focus on the ordinary. Themes creativity authenticity observation Mood reflective introspective Type literary personal observational When to use this quote - journalism - personal essays - creative writing - daily journaling Key Concepts mindfulness detail orientation humor Questions to Reflect On - How can everyday observations enrich larger stories? - When does focusing on minutiae limit perspective? A Different Perspective May overlook larger narratives or systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accomplish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplish/) [Amusement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusement/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/) [Day Trivial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-trivial-1630835/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Inconsequential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inconsequential/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Long time ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time-ago/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matters of the heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matters-of-the-heart/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Full](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-full/) [Reporter Flop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reporter-flop-5707608/) [Reporters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reporters/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Small things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-things/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trivial Matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trivial-matters-1035101/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-small-1287586/) ## Related quotes > [We betray ourselves into smallness when we think the little choices of each day are trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/we-betray-ourselves-into-smallness-when-we-think-the-little-choices/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [We all might ask ourselves why we tune in to these more trivial matters and tune out when it comes to Darfur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/we-all-might-ask-ourselves-why-we-tune-in-to-these-more-trivial/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [“Mister didn't come with me on cases, being above such trivial matters, but he found me pleasant company when I was at home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/mister-didn-t-come-with-me-on-cases-being-above-such-trivial-matters/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I don't think too seriously about anything, neither does my husband and my son. When we are home, we are constantly laughing over some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-maniratnam/i-don-t-think-too-seriously-about-anything-neither-does-my-husband/) [Suhasini Maniratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-maniratnam/) > [I don't think of writing my poems for China or for the world. I mainly think of a small audience of friends and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/i-don-t-think-of-writing-my-poems-for-china-or-for-the-world-i-mainly/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [“Q: Where and when do you do your writing? A: Any small room with no natural light will do. As for when, I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/q-where-and-when-do-you-do-your-writing-a-any-small-room-with-no/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I think especially in academia, we are coached to go the route of paying to submit our writing to small publications, like the presses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-land/i-think-especially-in-academia-we-are-coached-to-go-the-route-of/) [Stephanie Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-land/) > [Not explicitly, no. Compared to this enormous, relentless evolutionary activity in the built environment, writing is small potatoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/not-explicitly-no-compared-to-this-enormous-relentless-evolutionary/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [I quite like being removed from the industry stuff so that when we're not on tour and we're writing, we're in a small room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-mayberry/i-quite-like-being-removed-from-the-industry-stuff-so-that-when-we-re/) [Lauren Mayberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-mayberry/) > [“The conclusion to be drawn is that I am happiest writing in small rooms. They make me feel comfortable and secure. And it took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-steel/the-conclusion-to-be-drawn-is-that-i-am-happiest-writing-in-small/) [Danielle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-steel/) > [I think what happens is you write how you grew up. And I was born on the prairie, and so everything is kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-maclachlan/i-think-what-happens-is-you-write-how-you-grew-up-and-i-was-born-on/) [Patricia MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-maclachlan/) > [I began like all composers, writing for small groups. Chamber groups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-del-tredici/i-began-like-all-composers-writing-for-small-groups-chamber-groups/) [David Del Tredici](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-del-tredici/) > [I would perhaps like to go back to writing small books about obscure people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-tomalin/i-would-perhaps-like-to-go-back-to-writing-small-books-about-obscure/) [Claire Tomalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-tomalin/) > [“with my fucking suave manners and knowitall, eyes, and mind full of fantasy - the Me! that horror that keeps me conscious, in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/with-my-fucking-suave-manners-and-knowitall-eyes-and-mind-full-of/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Well, she's long about her coming, who must be more merciless to herself than history. Her mind full to the wind, I see her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/well-she-s-long-about-her-coming-who-must-be-more-merciless-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## More by E. B. White > [Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/writing-is-an-act-of-faith-not-a-trick-of-grammar/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [“To hear, in the short space of one week, a Scottish terrier booed by an audience and President Roosevelt criticized by Charles Lindbergh was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/to-hear-in-the-short-space-of-one-week-a-scottish-terrier-booed-by-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The sea answers all questions, and always in the same way; for when you read in the papers the interminable discussions and the bickering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-sea-answers-all-questions-and-always-in-the-same-way-for-when-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/new-york-blends-the-gift-of-privacy-with-the-excitement-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man's adjustment to it, the speed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-terror-of-the-atom-age-is-not-the-violence-of-the-new-power-but/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [When my wife's Aunt Caroline was in her nineties, she lived with us, and she once remarked: 'Remembrance is sufficient of the beauty we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/when-my-wife-s-aunt-caroline-was-in-her-nineties-she-lived-with-us/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/sailors-have-an-expression-about-the-weather-they-say-the-weather-is/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/anyone-who-writes-down-to-children-is-simply-wasting-his-time-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. ... A writer has the duty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/a-writer-should-concern-himself-with-whatever-absorbs-his-fancy-stirs/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/every-morning-i-awake-torn-between-a-desire-to-save-the-world-and-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [I seldom went to bed before two or three o'clock in the morning, on the theory that if anything of interest were to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/i-seldom-went-to-bed-before-two-or-three-o-clock-in-the-morning-on/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/necessity-first-mothered-invention-now-invention-has-little-ones-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The bonus is really one of the great give-aways in business enterprise. It is the annual salve applied to the conscience of the rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-bonus-is-really-one-of-the-great-give-aways-in-business/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/there-s-no-limit-to-how-complicated-things-can-get-on-account-of-one/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The critic leaves at curtain fall To find, in starting to review it, He scarcely saw the play at all For starting to review…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-critic-leaves-at-curtain-fall-to-find-in-starting-to-review-it-he/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) [Explore all 240 E. B. White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## More Accomplish quotes > [Learn to see the big picture. Often times we get tunnel vision and lose sight of the big picture and what we're really trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cheeke/learn-to-see-the-big-picture-often-times-we-get-tunnel-vision-and/) [Robert Cheeke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cheeke/) > [You know, by the time you reach my age, you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. So you learn. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/you-know-by-the-time-you-reach-my-age-you-ve-made-plenty-of-mistakes/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [God has given believers the responsibility of spreading the Gospel to all the world, and we need to use all at our disposal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-epp/god-has-given-believers-the-responsibility-of-spreading-the-gospel-to/) [Theodore Epp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-epp/) > [ \[The Community's\] crosses and trials give me confidence. But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/) [Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/) > [There's things that you want to accomplish, but to do that you have to work. That's the name of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-schwarber/there-s-things-that-you-want-to-accomplish-but-to-do-that-you-have-to/) [Kyle Schwarber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-schwarber/) > [To accomplish much you must first lose everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/to-accomplish-much-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [We have to think about the future and what it is we want to accomplish from this party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-bernice-johnson/we-have-to-think-about-the-future-and-what-it-is-we-want-to/) [Eddie Bernice Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-bernice-johnson/) > [Everything that I have ever hoped to accomplish, she has done and done better than anyone I have ever seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/everything-that-i-have-ever-hoped-to-accomplish-she-has-done-and-done/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [There's a lot that I want to accomplish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/there-s-a-lot-that-i-want-to-accomplish/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [For what we want to accomplish in the future, we have to be able to view everything from the eyes of the customer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-katz/for-what-we-want-to-accomplish-in-the-future-we-have-to-be-able-to/) [Karen Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-katz/) > [And for me the only way to live life is to grab the bull by the horns and call up recording studios and set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-frusciante/and-for-me-the-only-way-to-live-life-is-to-grab-the-bull-by-the-horns/) [John Frusciante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-frusciante/) > [A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn't have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/a-great-tennis-career-is-something-that-a-15-year-old-normally-doesn/) [Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/) > [Somebody once told me that if you laugh at a George Bush joke, or you send an email cartoon to your friends that makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ramis/somebody-once-told-me-that-if-you-laugh-at-a-george-bush-joke-or-you/) [Harold Ramis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ramis/) > [One should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xi/one-should-not-withdraw-from-individuals-and-commit-to-the-community/) [Pope Pius XI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xi/) [Browse all 2,426 Accomplish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this living, was the only kind of creative work which I could accomplish with any sincerity or grace. 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