--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An autobiography is only 'a sort of life'…" description: "\"An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain less errors of fact than a biography, but it is of necessity even more selective: it begins ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg" --- # An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain… ![“An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain less errors of fact than a biography, but it is of necessity even more selective: it begins later and it ends prematurely.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg) > “An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain less errors of fact than a biography, but it is of necessity even more selective: it begins later and it ends prematurely.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Autobiographies are inherently selective, often omitting early and late life details, making them less comprehensive than biographies. **In simple terms:** Life stories are filtered and incomplete. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of self‑narratives. Themes memory subjectivity storytelling Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal memoirs - historical biographies - family histories Key Concepts narrative bias selective recollection Questions to Reflect On - How does selective memory shape identity? - What might be omitted in your own story? A Different Perspective Reliance on self‑memory can distort truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Prematurely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prematurely/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [When I was born, I was born very prematurely so I was very tiny and small. And so, my mom just nicknamed me Pixie,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pixie-lott/when-i-was-born-i-was-born-very-prematurely-so-i-was-very-tiny-and/) [Pixie Lott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pixie-lott/) > [I think 'Teenage Wasteland' was one of those cult hits like 'My So-Called Life', something that came along and got a lot of viewers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel-staite/i-think-teenage-wasteland-was-one-of-those-cult-hits-like-my-so/) [Jewel Staite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel-staite/) > [In my book, 'The Big Three in Economics,' I found that the press has frequently and prematurely written the obituary of Adam Smith and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-skousen/in-my-book-the-big-three-in-economics-i-found-that-the-press-has/) [Mark Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-skousen/) > [No one will go to hell simply because all they needed was a little more time and they died prematurely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/no-one-will-go-to-hell-simply-because-all-they-needed-was-a-little/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [My career was prematurely launched. I didn't have a plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mija/my-career-was-prematurely-launched-i-didn-t-have-a-plan/) [Mija](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mija/) > [Perhaps, if prematurely we dismiss ourselves from this world, all may even have to be suffered through again - the premature birth may not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/perhaps-if-prematurely-we-dismiss-ourselves-from-this-world-all-may/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [I think my demise has been prematurely reported. That's what I think. I think I'm going take this and make medical history, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-sager/i-think-my-demise-has-been-prematurely-reported-that-s-what-i-think-i/) [Craig Sager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-sager/) > [I feel prematurely old. I'm actually having this major belated quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/i-feel-prematurely-old-i-m-actually-having-this-major-belated-quarter/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [The Chinese have figured out that they have a giant environmental problem. Folks in Beijing, some days, literally can't breathe. Over a million Chinese…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/the-chinese-have-figured-out-that-they-have-a-giant-environmental/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [“The most interesting conversations always end prematurely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/the-most-interesting-conversations-always-end-prematurely/) [Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/) > [I have a spasm of envy for the person that was killed by a falling bookcase, as long as it doesn't happen prematurely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-have-a-spasm-of-envy-for-the-person-that-was-killed-by-a-falling/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/that-which-prematurely-arrives-at-perfection-soon-perishes/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Whoever prematurely begins a work that is above his strength receives nothing, but only brings harm upon himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-of-nineveh/whoever-prematurely-begins-a-work-that-is-above-his-strength-receives/) [Isaac of Nineveh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-of-nineveh/) > [After a romantic date, she prematurely refers to HIM as](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roge/after-a-romantic-date-she-prematurely-refers-to-him-as/) Roge > [Who lives long and who dies prematurely, is the defining issue of our time. And I submit to you, there's a significant race dimension,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/who-lives-long-and-who-dies-prematurely-is-the-defining-issue-of-our/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## 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 > [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 > [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": "An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain less errors of fact than a biography, but it is of necessity even more selective: it begins later and it ends prematurely.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life-it-may-contain-less-errors-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Autobiography" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life-it-may-contain-less-errors-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/490/graham-greene-441_autobiography_an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life_186254.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An autobiography is only 'a sort of life' - it may contain less errors of fact than a biography, but it is…” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An autobiography is only 'a sort...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life-it-may-contain-less-errors-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/an-autobiography-is-only-a-sort-of-life-it-may-contain-less-errors-of/#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 } } ] } ```