--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that is the big danger in keeping…" description: "\"I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you exaggerate everything.\" — Jean-Paul Sartre" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cb/jean-paul-sartre-220_bigs_i-think-that-is-the-big-danger-in-keepin_2103178.png" --- # I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you… ![“I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you exaggerate everything.” quote by Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cb/jean-paul-sartre-220_bigs_i-think-that-is-the-big-danger-in-keepin_2103178.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cb/jean-paul-sartre-220_bigs_i-think-that-is-the-big-danger-in-keepin_2103178.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cb/jean-paul-sartre-220_bigs_i-think-that-is-the-big-danger-in-keepin_2103178.png) > “I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you exaggerate everything.” [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Diary writing can amplify personal bias, turning everyday events into exaggerated narratives. **In simple terms:** Diaries may distort reality. Key Takeaway Be aware of exaggeration when journaling. Themes self‑reflection bias writing Mood introspective cautious Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - personal journaling - therapy - creative writing - memory keeping Key Concepts existentialism subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How can you maintain honesty in a diary? - What checks can prevent over‑dramatization? A Different Perspective Exaggeration can undermine authenticity and self‑knowledge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Diaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diaries/) [Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [It's not easy keeping a diary. You have to be pretty committed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/it-s-not-easy-keeping-a-diary-you-have-to-be-pretty-committed/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Keeping a diary supports personal development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-sagmeister/keeping-a-diary-supports-personal-development/) [Stefan Sagmeister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-sagmeister/) > [Keeping a Diary all my life helped me to discover some basic elements essential to the vitality of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/keeping-a-diary-all-my-life-helped-me-to-discover-some-basic-elements/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Billy Pilgrim had a theory about diaries. Women were more likely than men to think that their lives had sufficient meaning to require recording…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/billy-pilgrim-had-a-theory-about-diaries-women-were-more-likely-than/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Keeping a diary is like closing your bedroom door and refusing to come out until dinnertime: it is a declaration of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-flanagan/keeping-a-diary-is-like-closing-your-bedroom-door-and-refusing-to/) [Caitlin Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-flanagan/) > [“I recommend keeping a diary. Diaries are cool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-wallace/i-recommend-keeping-a-diary-diaries-are-cool/) [Danny Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-wallace/) > [I am thinking of keeping a diary, not with the intend to publish it, merely to record the facts for the information of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-szilard/i-am-thinking-of-keeping-a-diary-not-with-the-intend-to-publish-it/) [Leo Szilard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-szilard/) > [There are many reasons for keeping a diary: to make a note of facts that one considers important; to open one's heart, to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/there-are-many-reasons-for-keeping-a-diary-to-make-a-note-of-facts/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/painting-is-just-another-way-of-keeping-a-diary/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“I tried keeping a diary once. 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Most of it's just whining, but every so often there'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-ve-been-keeping-a-diary-for-thirty-three-years-and-write-in-it/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [“If you see a big danger ahead, don’t start running immediately; because it may be the challenge that at the end you shall become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-you-see-a-big-danger-ahead-don-t-start-running-immediately-because/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [There's nothing so comfortable as a small bankroll. A big one is always in danger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-mizner/there-s-nothing-so-comfortable-as-a-small-bankroll-a-big-one-is/) [Wilson Mizner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-mizner/) ## More by Jean-Paul Sartre > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“she has suddenly emptied herself of me, and all other consciousness in the world has also emptied itself of me. It seems funny. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-has-suddenly-emptied-herself-of-me-and-all-other-consciousness-in/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [ \[Stéphane Mallarmé\] theory of the hermetic is a mistake, but he can be only difficult to read when he has difficult things to say. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/st-phane-mallarm-theory-of-the-hermetic-is-a-mistake-but-he-can-be/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I can always choose, but I ought to know that if I do not choose, I am still choosing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-can-always-choose-but-i-ought-to-know-that-if-i-do-not-choose-i-am/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/when-the-rich-wage-war-it-s-the-poor-who-die/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“She smiled. First I lost the memory of her eyes, then the memory of her long body. I kept her smile as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-smiled-first-i-lost-the-memory-of-her-eyes-then-the-memory-of-her/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Life is a useless passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/life-is-a-useless-passion/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The more one is absorbed in fighting evil, the less one is tempted to place the good in question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-more-one-is-absorbed-in-fighting-evil-the-less-one-is-tempted-to/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [This is what I thought: for the most banal even to become an adventure, you must (and this is enough) begin to recount it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-what-i-thought-for-the-most-banal-even-to-become-an-adventure/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I am free: there is absolutely no more reason for living, all the ones I have tried have given way and I can’t imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-am-free-there-is-absolutely-no-more-reason-for-living-all-the-ones/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“If I am not mistaken, if all the signs which have been amassed are precursors of a new overthrow in my life, well then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/if-i-am-not-mistaken-if-all-the-signs-which-have-been-amassed-are/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I want to leave, go to some place where I will be really in my own niche, where I will fit in. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-want-to-leave-go-to-some-place-where-i-will-be-really-in-my-own/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [...Uncalled-for aggression arouses the hatred of the civilian population...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/uncalled-for-aggression-arouses-the-hatred-of-the-civilian-population/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-best-work-is-not-what-is-most-difficult-for-you-it-is-what-you-do/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) [Explore all 728 Jean-Paul Sartre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## More Bigs quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-didn-t-get-how-big-it-was-until-i-went-home-turned-on-the/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. 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