--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My wife, who does not like journalizing…" description: "\"My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity--a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myse..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91e/james-boswell-7136_autobiography_my-wife-who-does-not-like-journalizing-s_2057963.jpg" --- # My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was… ![“My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity--a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myself embalmed. It is certainly preserving myself.” quote by James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91e/james-boswell-7136_autobiography_my-wife-who-does-not-like-journalizing-s_2057963.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91e/james-boswell-7136_autobiography_my-wife-who-does-not-like-journalizing-s_2057963.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91e/james-boswell-7136_autobiography_my-wife-who-does-not-like-journalizing-s_2057963.jpg) > “My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity--a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myself embalmed. It is certainly preserving myself.” [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Boswell describes preserving one's legacy as a form of self‑embalming, turning personal memory into a lasting record for future generations. **In simple terms:** Leaving a record is like preserving oneself. Key Takeaway Consider how you want to be remembered. Themes legacy memory self‑preservation writing Mood reflective nostalgic Type biographical inspirational When to use this quote - Biographical writing - family histories - public speeches Key Concepts historical record personal narrative mortality Questions to Reflect On - What story do you want future people to tell about you? - How does preserving memory affect your daily choices? A Different Perspective Focus on self‑preservation may ignore present lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) ## Related quotes > [“love is loveliest when embalmed in tears”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blasio-kajuna/love-is-loveliest-when-embalmed-in-tears/) [blasio kajuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blasio-kajuna/) > [He seemed embalmed in hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-morgan/he-seemed-embalmed-in-hatred/) [Ted Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-morgan/) > [There is a shrine in the temple of age, where lie forever embalmed the memories of such as have deserved well of their country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brown/there-is-a-shrine-in-the-temple-of-age-where-lie-forever-embalmed-the/) [John Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brown/) > [If time, so fleeting, must like humans die, let it be filled with good food and good talk, and then embalmed in the perfumes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-k-fisher/if-time-so-fleeting-must-like-humans-die-let-it-be-filled-with-good/) [M. F. K. Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-k-fisher/) > [“When I die,' I said to my friend, 'I'm not going to be embalmed. I'm going to be dipped.' Milk chocolate or bittersweet was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrianne-marcus/when-i-die-i-said-to-my-friend-i-m-not-going-to-be-embalmed-i-m-going/) Adrianne Marcus > [“The obituary seemed like a washing of the body. It cleaned Steen up. The existence of the photographs, all the sordid aspects of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-brett/the-obituary-seemed-like-a-washing-of-the-body-it-cleaned-steen-up/) Simon Brett > [“The first impression one gets of Michael Deane is of a man constructed of wax, or perhaps prematurely embalmed. After all these years, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/the-first-impression-one-gets-of-michael-deane-is-of-a-man/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [“A book is a dead man, a sort of mummy, embowelled and embalmed, but that once had flesh, and motion, and a boundless variety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/a-book-is-a-dead-man-a-sort-of-mummy-embowelled-and-embalmed-but-that/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [“History that is presented only as ink-embalmed data is as a flower pressed in a book. 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Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/in-some-warped-way-having-an-embalmed-body-with-us-made-perfect-sense/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“The more we accustom ourselves to understanding the present in terms of memory, the unknown by the known, the living by the dead, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-more-we-accustom-ourselves-to-understanding-the-present-in-terms/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [Let no man despise the oracles of books! A book is a dead man, a sort of mummy, embowelled and embalmed, but that once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/let-no-man-despise-the-oracles-of-books-a-book-is-a-dead-man-a-sort/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) ## More by James Boswell > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Drinking is in reality an occupation which employs a considerable portion of the time of many people; and to conduct it in the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/drinking-is-in-reality-an-occupation-which-employs-a-considerable/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [“His OFELLUS in the Art of Living in London, I have heard him relate, was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/his-ofellus-in-the-art-of-living-in-london-i-have-heard-him-relate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [If a man who is born to a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/if-a-man-who-is-born-to-a-fortune-cannot-make-himself-easier-and/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [He had no settled plan of life, nor looked forward at all, but merely lived from day to day. Yet he read a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/he-had-no-settled-plan-of-life-nor-looked-forward-at-all-but-merely/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Nay, Sir, it was not the WINE that made your head ache, but the SENSE that I put into it' 'What, Sir! will sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/nay-sir-it-was-not-the-wine-that-made-your-head-ache-but-the-sense/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Have a sense of piety ever on your mind, and be ever mindful that this is subject to no change, but will last you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/have-a-sense-of-piety-ever-on-your-mind-and-be-ever-mindful-that-this/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [There is indeed a strange prejudice against Quotation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/there-is-indeed-a-strange-prejudice-against-quotation/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We must take our friends as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-must-take-our-friends-as-they-are/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ \[A\]s a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/a-s-a-lady-adjusts-her-dress-before-a-mirror-a-man-adjusts-his/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We had some port, and drank damnation to the play and eternal remorse to the author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-had-some-port-and-drank-damnation-to-the-play-and-eternal-remorse/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I find I journalize too tediously. Let me try to abbreviate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-find-i-journalize-too-tediously-let-me-try-to-abbreviate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ In comparing these two writers, he \[Samuel Johnson\] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/in-comparing-these-two-writers-he-samuel-johnson-used-this-expression/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I make it a kind of pious rule to go to every funeral to which I am invited, both as I wish to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-make-it-a-kind-of-pious-rule-to-go-to-every-funeral-to-which-i-am/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [All censure of a man's self is oblique praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/all-censure-of-a-man-s-self-is-oblique-praise/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) [Explore all 94 James Boswell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## 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": "My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity--a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myself embalmed. 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