--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's being a grown up, which I never…" description: "\"It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to do, scrubbing the tub, and remembering to eat and shampoo my hair. It's the basics: I can write..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_basics_it-s-being-a-grown-up-which-i-never-figu_783466.png" --- # It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to… ![“It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to do, scrubbing the tub, and remembering to eat and shampoo my hair. It's the basics: I can write a whole book, but I cannot handle the basics.” quote by Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_basics_it-s-being-a-grown-up-which-i-never-figu_783466.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_basics_it-s-being-a-grown-up-which-i-never-figu_783466.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_basics_it-s-being-a-grown-up-which-i-never-figu_783466.png) > “It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to do, scrubbing the tub, and remembering to eat and shampoo my hair. It's the basics: I can write a whole book, but I cannot handle the basics.” [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights the paradox of intellectual achievement versus neglect of everyday self‑care tasks. **In simple terms:** Struggle with basic self‑care despite talent. Key Takeaway Balance work and daily routines. Themes self‑care balance productivity Mood honest introspective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - daily routines - time management - mindfulness - health check‑ups Key Concepts psychology habit formation self‑esteem Questions to Reflect On - What basic habit could you improve? - How does neglecting basics affect your work? A Different Perspective Changing habits can be difficult without support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Basics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basics/) [Basics Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basics-write-415532/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Eat Shampoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eat-shampoo-6032378/) [Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair/) [Hair Basics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair-basics-6032376/) [Handle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handle/) [Handle Basics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handle-basics-6032377/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Shampoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shampoo/) [Tub Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tub-remembering-6032375/) [Tubs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tubs/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“What do you want? Let’s just start with the basics. Write down anything that you want in your life. These can be big or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brodie/what-do-you-want-let-s-just-start-with-the-basics-write-down-anything/) [Richard Brodie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brodie/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [The unknownness of my needs frightens me. I do now know how huge they are, or how high they are, I only know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/the-unknownness-of-my-needs-frightens-me-i-do-now-know-how-huge-they/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I know the activists I deal with, we sort of try and check each other to make sure that we haven't gone native, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-norquist/i-know-the-activists-i-deal-with-we-sort-of-try-and-check-each-other/) [Grover Norquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-norquist/) > [We are a nation of 20 million bathrooms, with a humanist in every tub.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/we-are-a-nation-of-20-million-bathrooms-with-a-humanist-in-every-tub/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [This is the way life goes in Big Sur. Waiting for the mail, watching the sea-lions in the surf or the freighters on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/this-is-the-way-life-goes-in-big-sur-waiting-for-the-mail-watching/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [When you look into a mirror it is not yourself you see, but a kind of apish error posed in fearful symmetry kool uoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/when-you-look-into-a-mirror-it-is-not-yourself-you-see-but-a-kind-of/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Now on Friday nights, if I want to go hang out with friends, I go hang out with friends. If I want to stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/now-on-friday-nights-if-i-want-to-go-hang-out-with-friends-i-go-hang/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [Seducing him in the tub smelling of vinegar was out of the question. There had to be some boundaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/seducing-him-in-the-tub-smelling-of-vinegar-was-out-of-the-question/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [I like to take mustard baths. I combine 4 lbs Epsom salts, 3 oz mustard powder, 12 oz powdered milk, and 1/2 cup baking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-coughlin/i-like-to-take-mustard-baths-i-combine-4-lbs-epsom-salts-3-oz-mustard/) [Natalie Coughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-coughlin/) > [“No more tubs for me." I jumped off the bed and pulled on a pair of Pack sweats. "They make me lose all sense."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/no-more-tubs-for-me-i-jumped-off-the-bed-and-pulled-on-a-pair-of-pack/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [What a pure blessing it was to have a bath in a tub alone in a room where all you had to do was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-e-turner/what-a-pure-blessing-it-was-to-have-a-bath-in-a-tub-alone-in-a-room/) [Nancy E. Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-e-turner/) > [Western doctors are like poor plumbers. They treat a splashing tub by cleaning up the water. These plumbers are extremely apt at drying up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-parsons-burkitt/western-doctors-are-like-poor-plumbers-they-treat-a-splashing-tub-by/) [Denis Parsons Burkitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-parsons-burkitt/) > [Hart is still like that little tub of vaguely milklike gunk that comes with airline coffee. It is labeled a "nondairy" product. Fine: we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/hart-is-still-like-that-little-tub-of-vaguely-milklike-gunk-that/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [Our incomes should be like our shoes, if too small, they will gall and pinch us, but if too large, they will cause us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/our-incomes-should-be-like-our-shoes-if-too-small-they-will-gall-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More by Elizabeth Wurtzel > [Belief is a good thing in principle, but an annoying thing in human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/belief-is-a-good-thing-in-principle-but-an-annoying-thing-in-human/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I myself am hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-myself-am-hell/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. I can see that I beg and plead for love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-can-see-that-i-imagine-all-kinds-of-rejection-that-never-happens-i/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“...if you ask anyone in the throes of depression how he got there, to pin down the turning point, he'll never know. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-you-ask-anyone-in-the-throes-of-depression-how-he-got-there-to-pin/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. How I’m being drowned by some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-want-to-explain-how-exhausted-i-am-even-in-my-dreams-how-i-wake-up/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Its the people you are close to, the ones who love you, the ones who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/its-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-the-ones-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [if only my whole life could be words and music, if only everything else could slip away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-only-my-whole-life-could-be-words-and-music-if-only-everything/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [What I would do to be Alice climbing through the looking glass, taking one of those pills that makes you small ... so small.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/what-i-would-do-to-be-alice-climbing-through-the-looking-glass-taking/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Divorce has taught us how to sleep with friends, sleep with enemies, and then act like its all perfectly normal in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/divorce-has-taught-us-how-to-sleep-with-friends-sleep-with-enemies/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Just as our parents quieted us when we were noisy by putting us in front of the television set, maybe we're now learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/just-as-our-parents-quieted-us-when-we-were-noisy-by-putting-us-in/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I am sick of the girl who cries 'wolf' all the time. Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I'm lost in a loneliness that feels like forever ... like a solitude that never goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-m-lost-in-a-loneliness-that-feels-like-forever-like-a-solitude-that/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [It's the people you are close to, the ones who love you, theo nes who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/it-s-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-theo-nes-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“When you do drugs, you count like a chemist: The numbers are wild, the formulas are easy. Then, when you try to get clean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/when-you-do-drugs-you-count-like-a-chemist-the-numbers-are-wild-the/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Everything's plastic, we're all going to die sooner or later, so what does it matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/everything-s-plastic-we-re-all-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-so-what/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) [Explore all 261 Elizabeth Wurtzel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## More Basics quotes > [Play small ball. Get back to basics. I would say that you need to be a conservative, but you need to maintain your independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-tantaros/play-small-ball-get-back-to-basics-i-would-say-that-you-need-to-be-a/) [Andrea Tantaros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-tantaros/) > [I learned tabla for three years when in school, then started picking up the basics of the acoustic guitar when in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anupam-roy/i-learned-tabla-for-three-years-when-in-school-then-started-picking/) [Anupam Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anupam-roy/) > [The only way you can stay on top is to remember to touch bottom and get back to basics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-black/the-only-way-you-can-stay-on-top-is-to-remember-to-touch-bottom-and/) [Shane Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-black/) > [To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education - literacy, both verbal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/to-succeed-you-will-soon-learn-as-i-did-the-importance-of-a-solid/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [I see film as a real opportunity to examine the human condition. No matter where the technology goes in the future, the basics don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schultz/i-see-film-as-a-real-opportunity-to-examine-the-human-condition-no/) [Michael Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schultz/) > [Sometimes we think that the more expensive brands will be more effective. Sometimes if you stick to the basics, that's what really matters. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pia-wurtzbach/sometimes-we-think-that-the-more-expensive-brands-will-be-more/) [Pia Wurtzbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pia-wurtzbach/) > [As hundreds of millions of Chinese have improved their standard of living, this has put enormous pressure on natural resources, raw materials, and food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-lubetzky/as-hundreds-of-millions-of-chinese-have-improved-their-standard-of/) [Daniel Lubetzky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-lubetzky/) > [Move quickly. Sound, calm mind. Be light in body. Have a clever mind. Master the basics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gogen-yamaguchi/move-quickly-sound-calm-mind-be-light-in-body-have-a-clever-mind/) [Gogen Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gogen-yamaguchi/) > [After almost exactly three hours, we rolled into a small hole of a town that had one traffic light and a resturant simply marked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/after-almost-exactly-three-hours-we-rolled-into-a-small-hole-of-a/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [When you're a dancer, you start with the basics. You don't all of a sudden do a grand jete and pirouette. You start with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/when-you-re-a-dancer-you-start-with-the-basics-you-don-t-all-of-a/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) > [There are huge misconceptions about people on benefits. They are labelled scroungers or cheats. The reality is that many who need that level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-paphitis/there-are-huge-misconceptions-about-people-on-benefits-they-are/) [Theo Paphitis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-paphitis/) > [It's just lovely to be involved in a movie that does go back to the basics - characters and great writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-owen/it-s-just-lovely-to-be-involved-in-a-movie-that-does-go-back-to-the/) [Clive Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-owen/) > [“When life gets confusing, go back to the basics. The rest is noise!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-shelasky/when-life-gets-confusing-go-back-to-the-basics-the-rest-is-noise/) [Alyssa Shelasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-shelasky/) > [We have to stick to basics. Sometimes, you expect that miracles will happen, but it does not work out that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-afridi/we-have-to-stick-to-basics-sometimes-you-expect-that-miracles-will/) [Shahid Afridi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-afridi/) > [I don't think that you can write music if you don't know how to play an instrument. You have to know the basics, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alber-elbaz/i-don-t-think-that-you-can-write-music-if-you-don-t-know-how-to-play/) [Alber Elbaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alber-elbaz/) [Browse all 345 Basics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to do, scrubbing the tub, and remembering to eat and shampoo my hair. 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