--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am very interested in people trying to…" description: "\"I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.\" — Grace Paley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg" --- # I am very interested in people trying to write because I… ![“I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.” quote by Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg) > “I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.” [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She values personal storytelling over formal academic credentials, encouraging authentic voices. **In simple terms:** Writing is for everyone, not just scholars. Key Takeaway Embrace your unique perspective. Themes creativity self-expression education Mood encouraging hopeful Type inspirational personal When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal blogs - community storytelling - self‑education Key Concepts Narrative voice empowerment Questions to Reflect On - How can you leverage your life experience in writing? - What barriers do you face without formal training? A Different Perspective Academic training is not the only path to insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I didn't come from any kind of academic background, but I lived in a college town and I knew people who weren't without pretense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/i-didn-t-come-from-any-kind-of-academic-background-but-i-lived-in-a/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [Academia is a rarified culture, especially an Ivy League academic background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-giamatti/academia-is-a-rarified-culture-especially-an-ivy-league-academic/) [Paul Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-giamatti/) > [I did not come from an academic background. My father was a smart man, but he had a fifth-grade education. He and all his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-did-not-come-from-an-academic-background-my-father-was-a-smart-man/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I come from an academic background. I wasn't raised to be into promoting myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-heizer/i-come-from-an-academic-background-i-wasn-t-raised-to-be-into/) [Michael Heizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-heizer/) > [I come out of an academic background, and I'm aware that what I'm doing is simultaneously research and fiction. I want to meet both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/i-come-out-of-an-academic-background-and-i-m-aware-that-what-i-m/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [I came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and I had a different kind of focus than most people who have just the academic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-johnson-reagon/i-came-out-of-the-civil-rights-movement-and-i-had-a-different-kind-of/) [Bernice Johnson Reagon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-johnson-reagon/) > [My mom and dad put my brother and sister through university and they were very keen for us to have an academic background just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-james-collier/my-mom-and-dad-put-my-brother-and-sister-through-university-and-they/) [Rob James-Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-james-collier/) > [Once I engage in something, I really engage in it, and I love the process of reading and researching because I come from an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hirst/once-i-engage-in-something-i-really-engage-in-it-and-i-love-the/) [Michael Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hirst/) > [Merit should count more than academic background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-myung-bak/merit-should-count-more-than-academic-background/) [Lee Myung-bak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-myung-bak/) > [I was writing from a very, very early age. My father used to write. He died early, and my mother was a schoolteacher, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-was-writing-from-a-very-very-early-age-my-father-used-to-write-he/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I come from an academic background, and I have a genuine interest in social change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-seales/i-come-from-an-academic-background-and-i-have-a-genuine-interest-in/) [Amanda Seales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-seales/) > [I didn't go to university. I don't have an academic background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-mathias/i-didn-t-go-to-university-i-don-t-have-an-academic-background/) [Sean Mathias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-mathias/) > [I guess I'm interested in people who are very sophisticated in intellectual ways, while being completely off the mark in emotional ones, with huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-baumbach/i-guess-i-m-interested-in-people-who-are-very-sophisticated-in/) [Noah Baumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-baumbach/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [What I'm interested in is to get people saved and to see the power of God spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/what-i-m-interested-in-is-to-get-people-saved-and-to-see-the-power-of/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) ## More by Grace Paley > [The only recognizable feature of hope is action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-only-recognizable-feature-of-hope-is-action/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“Near home I ran through our park, where I had aired my children on weekends and late-summer afternoons. I stopped at the northeast playground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/near-home-i-ran-through-our-park-where-i-had-aired-my-children-on/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Old age is not a good thing. It can be really hard, and those of us who have it a little easier should keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/old-age-is-not-a-good-thing-it-can-be-really-hard-and-those-of-us-who/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Well, by now you must know yourself, honey, whatever you do, life don't stop. It only sits a minute and dreams a dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/well-by-now-you-must-know-yourself-honey-whatever-you-do-life-don-t/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“Who cares?' said Judy, who didn't care.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/who-cares-said-judy-who-didn-t-care/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [The women's movement was coming, but I didn't know it in 1956-1957, when I began to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-women-s-movement-was-coming-but-i-didn-t-know-it-in-1956-1957/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [A joke is necessary at this time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/a-joke-is-necessary-at-this-time/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [Sometimes, walking with a friend, I forget the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/sometimes-walking-with-a-friend-i-forget-the-world/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [It wasn't until I lived in the countryside that I began to understand the life of the countryside and the people in it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/it-wasn-t-until-i-lived-in-the-countryside-that-i-began-to-understand/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [I've started many novels, and they all ended on page seven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-ve-started-many-novels-and-they-all-ended-on-page-seven/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > […I go through a story for lies. I might discover the lie of trying to show off. Sometimes they’re lies of character. Sometimes they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-go-through-a-story-for-lies-i-might-discover-the-lie-of-trying-to/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [I didn't intend. The word "intend" is the wrong word for what I do. It's just that it's something you do, and you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-didn-t-intend-the-word-intend-is-the-wrong-word-for-what-i-do-it-s/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“... plot, the absolute line between two points which I've always despised. Not for literary reasons, but because it takes all hope away. Everyone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/plot-the-absolute-line-between-two-points-which-i-ve-always-despised/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [You come to doing what you do by not being able to do something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/you-come-to-doing-what-you-do-by-not-being-able-to-do-something/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [When I was about twenty-one, I published a few poems. Maybe I wrote a couple of stories before, but I really began to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/when-i-was-about-twenty-one-i-published-a-few-poems-maybe-i-wrote-a/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) [Explore all 135 Grace Paley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) ## More Academic quotes > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. They told me that the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/when-i-went-to-college-as-much-as-my-parents-emphasized-academic/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Instead of explaining the sober facts of mechanics and electricity, I want to say a few words about the debt which we owe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-bloch/instead-of-explaining-the-sober-facts-of-mechanics-and-electricity-i/) [Felix Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-bloch/) > [The Carnegie Foundation is well aware of the fact that their reports frequently find their way to dusty archives in academic institutions, but occasionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-carnegie-foundation-is-well-aware-of-the-fact-that-their-reports/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Marx, however imperfectly he worked out the details, set himself the task of discovering the law of motion of capitalism, and if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marx-however-imperfectly-he-worked-out-the-details-set-himself-the/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Now know I well what people sought formerly above all else when they sought Teachers of virtue. Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-paul-gee/an-academic-discipline-or-any-other-semiotic-domain-for-that-matter/) [James Paul Gee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-paul-gee/) > [“In the end, ethical interpretation of the Bible means to think critically about how our practices of textual engagement might help us to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-brueggemann/in-the-end-ethical-interpretation-of-the-bible-means-to-think/) [Walter Brueggemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-brueggemann/) > [Perhaps art criticism cannot be reformed in a logical sense because it was never well-formed in the first place. Art criticism has long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/perhaps-art-criticism-cannot-be-reformed-in-a-logical-sense-because/) [James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/) > [And I'm the first one to tell people to break the rules. But you can only break the rules once you know what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/and-i-m-the-first-one-to-tell-people-to-break-the-rules-but-you-can/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [Nietzsche's ideas and plans: for example, the idea of giving up the whole wretched academic world to form a secular monastic community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/nietzsche-s-ideas-and-plans-for-example-the-idea-of-giving-up-the/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [Quality afterschool programs provide safe, engaging and fun learning experiences to help children and youth develop their social, emotional, physical, cultural and academic skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-stabenow/quality-afterschool-programs-provide-safe-engaging-and-fun-learning/) [Debbie Stabenow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-stabenow/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/doctoral-training-is-devoted-almost-entirely-to-learning-to-do/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Grace Paley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to-write-because-i-don-t-have-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Academic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to-write-because-i-don-t-have-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e0/grace-paley-3243_academic_i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to_432248.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am very interested in people trying to write because I don't have a big academic background at all.” — Grace Paley", "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": "Grace Paley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am very interested in people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to-write-because-i-don-t-have-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-am-very-interested-in-people-trying-to-write-because-i-don-t-have-a/#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 } } ] } ```