--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My scepticism of biography continues even…" description: "\"My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.\" — Janet Malcolm" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png" --- # My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep… ![“My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.” quote by Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png) > “My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.” [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author doubts the value of biography while still practicing it, highlighting a paradox of belief and action. **In simple terms:** She questions biography but keeps writing it. Key Takeaway Accept paradoxes, keep creating. Themes paradox biography self‑reflection Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - writing memoirs - journalistic research - personal storytelling Key Concepts epistemology identity Questions to Reflect On - Why do we continue practices we doubt? - How does doubt affect our work? A Different Perspective Biographical work may still be biased despite skepticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Scepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scepticism/) ## Related quotes > [“Biographers rue the destruction or loss of letters; they might also curse the husband and wife who never leave each other’s side, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/biographers-rue-the-destruction-or-loss-of-letters-they-might-also/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The transgressive nature of biography is rarely acknowledged, but it is the only explanation for biography's status as a popular genre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-transgressive-nature-of-biography-is-rarely-acknowledged-but-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Before the 3rd century you're having several philosophical schools still as a going concern. You have not only the Platonists and the Aristotelians but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/before-the-3rd-century-you-re-having-several-philosophical-schools/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [“Herr Kafka, essen Sie keine Eier." (As one and only piece of dialog K recalls from his meeting with Rudolf Steiner - "Mr. Kafka…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/herr-kafka-essen-sie-keine-eier-as-one-and-only-piece-of-dialog-k/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“And here is the point, about myself and my co-thinkers. Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/and-here-is-the-point-about-myself-and-my-co-thinkers-our-belief-is/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Sometimes I think I am going mad. I live for days in the mystery and tears of things so that the commonest object, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-n-p-barbellion/sometimes-i-think-i-am-going-mad-i-live-for-days-in-the-mystery-and/) [W.N.P. Barbellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-n-p-barbellion/) > [Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's blood from claims to have a good deal of knowledge. For example, your friends claim to know, 'Since every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/scepticism-ironically-draws-its-life-s-blood-from-claims-to-have-a/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [“My main reason for scepticism about the Huxley/Sagan theory is that the human brain is demonstrably eager to see faces in random patterns, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/my-main-reason-for-scepticism-about-the-huxley-sagan-theory-is-that/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [On New Year's Eve he ould make a resolution to recover some his previous scepticism, but until then he would do as the Romans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/on-new-year-s-eve-he-ould-make-a-resolution-to-recover-some-his/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [The want of faith, as well as faith itself, is best shewn by works. If a sceptic avoid the fire as much as those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/the-want-of-faith-as-well-as-faith-itself-is-best-shewn-by-works-if-a/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [Never trust anyone who has no doubts. And I'm not talking about scepticism either: scepticism can be a healthy thing. You can have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/never-trust-anyone-who-has-no-doubts-and-i-m-not-talking-about/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [It is true that 'I seem to see a table' does not entail 'I see a table'; but 'I seem to feel a pain'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galen-strawson/it-is-true-that-i-seem-to-see-a-table-does-not-entail-i-see-a-table/) [Galen Strawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galen-strawson/) > [And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-indeed-nothing-but-the-most-determined-scepticism-along-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“Scepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of scepticism. To be content with what we at present know, is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/scepticism-is-as-much-the-result-of-knowledge-as-knowledge-is-of/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Any trend that generates a lot of excitement encounters scepticism due to the bad experiences - internet and housing crashes - of the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathie-wood/any-trend-that-generates-a-lot-of-excitement-encounters-scepticism/) [Cathie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathie-wood/) ## More by Janet Malcolm > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-writer-ultimately-tires-of-the-subject-s-self-serving-story-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness through an unspoken agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/society-mediates-between-the-extremes-of-on-the-one-hand-intolerably/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-i-character-in-journalism-is-almost-pure-invention-unlike-the-i/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [I don't want to manipulate actuality; I want to record it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/i-don-t-want-to-manipulate-actuality-i-want-to-record-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalistic 'I' is an overreliable narrator, a functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an ad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalistic-i-is-an-overreliable-narrator-a-functionary-to-whom/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The subject of a piece of writing has not suffered the tension and anxiety endured by the subject of the "Eichmann experiment" (as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-subject-of-a-piece-of-writing-has-not-suffered-the-tension-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [People talk in ungrammatical, unwriterly ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/people-talk-in-ungrammatical-unwriterly-ways/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [This is what it is the business of the artist to do. Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/this-is-what-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-do-art-is-theft-art/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalist confines himself to the clean, gentlemanly work of exposing the griefs and shames of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalist-confines-himself-to-the-clean-gentlemanly-work-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The dominant and most deep-dyed trait of the journalist is his timorousness. Where the novelist fearlessly plunges into the water of self-exposure, the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-dominant-and-most-deep-dyed-trait-of-the-journalist-is-his/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [If I write a page a day, I feel very good about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/if-i-write-a-page-a-day-i-feel-very-good-about-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and-2/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [You could say that any book that takes a position is not fair, unless you keep saying, 'On the one hand, on the other...'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/you-could-say-that-any-book-that-takes-a-position-is-not-fair-unless/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) [Explore all 62 Janet Malcolm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## More Biography quotes > [I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmylou-harris/i-have-my-own-biography-of-gram-parsons-i-don-t-want-to-be-part-of/) [Emmylou Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmylou-harris/) > [“If you can choose your way into a cage, you can choose your way out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kempton/if-you-can-choose-your-way-into-a-cage-you-can-choose-your-way-out/) [Beth Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kempton/) > [All Philosophy is Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/all-philosophy-is-biography/) [Peter J. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-carroll/) > [I've read every Madonna biography. I've also looked up every pop star to see how they first made it. The biggest thing I learnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/i-ve-read-every-madonna-biography-i-ve-also-looked-up-every-pop-star/) [Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/) > [I went on a Buddha jag. I read 'Confession of a Buddhist Atheist' by Stephen Batchelor and Karen Armstrong's biography of Buddha, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-o-hare/i-went-on-a-buddha-jag-i-read-confession-of-a-buddhist-atheist-by/) [Denis O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-o-hare/) > [“What drove us crazy wasn't necessarily the sexual freedom his critic claimed he was unleashing, but freedom, period. Freedom to be yourself, to express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-spector-larry-geller-patricia-romanowski/what-drove-us-crazy-wasn-t-necessarily-the-sexual-freedom-his-critic/) Joel Spector Larry Geller Patricia Romanowski > [“Maybe he'd never come acrross anybody as well versed at objectifying body parts as I was. In my defense, this was an occupational hazard;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-shaw/maybe-he-d-never-come-acrross-anybody-as-well-versed-at-objectifying/) [Aiden Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-shaw/) > [It's time for male leaders to not only ask for binders of qualified women, but to re-write the definition of 'qualified.' The best man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/it-s-time-for-male-leaders-to-not-only-ask-for-binders-of-qualified/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [“Pong had mutated into large stand-up Sega consoles by '82 and here was some extra revenue the guys were well up for. So the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-wilson/pong-had-mutated-into-large-stand-up-sega-consoles-by-82-and-here-was/) [Tony Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-wilson/) > [I think that I'm busy in the present, and I don't want to go back. Well, there's been an unauthorized biography, and you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-finney/i-think-that-i-m-busy-in-the-present-and-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-well/) [Albert Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-finney/) > [“The trouble with life (the novelist will feel) is its amorphousness, its ridiculous fluidity. Look at it: thinly plotted, largely themeless, sentimental and ineluctably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-trouble-with-life-the-novelist-will-feel-is-its-amorphousness-its/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [History is neither more nor less than biography on a large scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/history-is-neither-more-nor-less-than-biography-on-a-large-scale/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [“I don't know enough to have any regrets”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-grabin/i-don-t-know-enough-to-have-any-regrets/) Vince Grabin > [“Up to four chauffeurs, two secretaries, two personal maids, and a masseur traveled with her to each home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estella-m-chung/up-to-four-chauffeurs-two-secretaries-two-personal-maids-and-a/) [Estella M. Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estella-m-chung/) > [I'm not spitting in my own soup, I love having spent my life thinking about these things-but you don't have to know anything about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/i-m-not-spitting-in-my-own-soup-i-love-having-spent-my-life-thinking/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) [Browse all 348 Biography quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janet Malcolm" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-even-though-i-keep-doing-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Biography" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-even-though-i-keep-doing-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/janet-malcolm-10933_biography_my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-eve_1167190.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My scepticism of biography continues even though I keep doing it.” — Janet Malcolm", "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": "Janet Malcolm", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My scepticism of biography continues even...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-even-though-i-keep-doing-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/my-scepticism-of-biography-continues-even-though-i-keep-doing-it/#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 } } ] } ```