--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have begun writing what I have said I'd…" description: "\"I have begun writing what I have said I'd never write, a memoir (\"I am not my own subject,\" I used to say with icy superiority).\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/gore-vidal-466_icy_i-have-begun-writing-what-i-have-said-i_2933696.jpg" --- # I have begun writing what I have said I'd never write, a… ![“I have begun writing what I have said I'd never write, a memoir ("I am not my own subject," I used to say with icy superiority).” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/gore-vidal-466_icy_i-have-begun-writing-what-i-have-said-i_2933696.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/gore-vidal-466_icy_i-have-begun-writing-what-i-have-said-i_2933696.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/gore-vidal-466_icy_i-have-begun-writing-what-i-have-said-i_2933696.jpg) > “I have begun writing what I have said I'd never write, a memoir ("I am not my own subject," I used to say with icy superiority).” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He finally writes a memoir, confronting his earlier claim of detachment, revealing self‑examination. **In simple terms:** Writing reveals self. Key Takeaway Embrace self‑reflection. Themes self‑examination writing identity Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational Key Concepts literary memoir personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What truths do you avoid? - How does writing change self‑view? A Different Perspective Self‑examination can be uncomfortable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begun Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begun-writing-1508393/) [Icy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/icy/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) [Memoir Subject](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir-subject-4337527/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Superiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superiority/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Write Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-memoir-437896/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-said-1593273/) ## Related quotes > [I've been writing songs all along, and since moving to Nashville in the late-'80s, I'd begun writing something like 15-20 songs a year, instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-leadon/i-ve-been-writing-songs-all-along-and-since-moving-to-nashville-in/) [Bernie Leadon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-leadon/) > [I think that whether you've just begun writing or whether you've been writing for fifty years - I mean, I'm excited to get there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-barton/i-think-that-whether-you-ve-just-begun-writing-or-whether-you-ve-been/) [Emily Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-barton/) > [“I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chobsky-2/i-am-writing-to-you-because-she-said-you-listen-and-understand-and/) [ٍStephen Chobsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chobsky-2/) > [ I was over at Alison's \[McGhee\], I think we were playing Scrabble. 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I didn’t get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-jean-slack/although-my-road-to-writing-seems-like-it-may-have-come-easily-there/) [Nina Jean Slack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-jean-slack/) > [Writing is like wrestling; you are wrestling with ideas and with the story. There is a lot of energy required. At the same time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/writing-is-like-wrestling-you-are-wrestling-with-ideas-and-with-the/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [Sometimes, what's not said is just as important to the writing as what is said. As a writer, we have our voices heard. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-edgerton/sometimes-what-s-not-said-is-just-as-important-to-the-writing-as-what/) [Joel Edgerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-edgerton/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. 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Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. 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Faces cannot be seen clearly! 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