--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Keepers of private notebooks are a…" description: "\"Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted appa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/joan-didion-497_anxious_keepers-of-private-notebooks-are-a-diffe_3039513.jpg" --- # Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed… ![“Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/joan-didion-497_anxious_keepers-of-private-notebooks-are-a-diffe_3039513.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/joan-didion-497_anxious_keepers-of-private-notebooks-are-a-diffe_3039513.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/joan-didion-497_anxious_keepers-of-private-notebooks-are-a-diffe_3039513.jpg) > “Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss.” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Private writers are isolated, anxious, and haunted by loss **In simple terms:** Writers feel lonely, anxious, and haunted by loss Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address creative isolation Themes creativity loneliness anxiety Mood reflective somber Type literary personal When to use this quote - writing process - mental health - artistic expression - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can writers build supportive communities? - What practices reduce creative anxiety? A Different Perspective Isolation can hinder productivity and well‑being ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious/) [Anxious Malcontents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious-malcontents-5002574/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Keepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keepers/) [Keepers Private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keepers-private-5002573/) [Lonely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Malcontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malcontent/) [Notebook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebook/) [Notebooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebooks/) [Notebooks Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebooks-different-5002572/) [Private Notebooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-notebooks-382227/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant re-arrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/keepers-of-private-notebooks-are-a-different-breed-altogether-lonely-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-i-have-felt-compelled-to-write-things-down-since-i-was-five/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? 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Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [Unions are at a disadvantage in a company vote because the employees can see that the greatest advocates of unionization are often the malcontents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/unions-are-at-a-disadvantage-in-a-company-vote-because-the-employees/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [Countless people...will hate the New World Order...and will die protesting against it...we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/countless-people-will-hate-the-new-world-order-and-will-die/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Thou art the Mars of malcontents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-art-the-mars-of-malcontents/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [In the taverns all was amiable and easy, but the coffeehouses were cauldrons of edgy malcontents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/in-the-taverns-all-was-amiable-and-easy-but-the-coffeehouses-were/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) > [Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/like-most-of-the-others-i-was-a-seeker-a-mover-a-malcontent-and-at/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [The interesting adults are always the school failures, the weird ones, the losers, the malcontents, this isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/the-interesting-adults-are-always-the-school-failures-the-weird-ones/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [... when the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/when-the-struggle-seems-to-be-drifting-definitely-towards-a-world/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Every American carries in his bloodstream the heritage of the malcontent and the dreamer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-fuldheim/every-american-carries-in-his-bloodstream-the-heritage-of-the/) [Dorothy Fuldheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-fuldheim/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [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/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Anxious quotes > [Most people do surprisingly poorly when dealing with a relative who is hurting, depressed, or anxious - we get defensive and try to solve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/most-people-do-surprisingly-poorly-when-dealing-with-a-relative-who/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [According to Shakyamuni Buddha, it's normal for human beings to be anxious, because it's normal for human beings not to understand themselves. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reb-anderson/according-to-shakyamuni-buddha-it-s-normal-for-human-beings-to-be/) [Reb Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reb-anderson/) > [Be lamps unto yourselves. Be refuges unto yourselves. Take yourself no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/be-lamps-unto-yourselves-be-refuges-unto-yourselves-take-yourself-no/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Even speed, when we are anxious, seems like delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/even-speed-when-we-are-anxious-seems-like-delay/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [I'd like to be able to do complex math in my head. Any kind of adversity and I become very anxious, but if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-woods/i-d-like-to-be-able-to-do-complex-math-in-my-head-any-kind-of/) [Zach Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-woods/) > [There were times when depression, anxiety, whatever, would keep me from writing. I still get depressed and anxious, but I just don't let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-st-john/there-were-times-when-depression-anxiety-whatever-would-keep-me-from/) [David St. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-st-john/) > [The millennials were raised in a cocoon, their anxious parents afraid to let them go out in the park to play. So should we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/the-millennials-were-raised-in-a-cocoon-their-anxious-parents-afraid/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [He who believes in God is not careful for the morrow, but labors joyfully and with a great heart. "For He giveth His beloved,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/he-who-believes-in-god-is-not-careful-for-the-morrow-but-labors/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I'm a very anxious, nervy kind of loser in many ways, and I get very stressed and a little tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-weeks/i-m-a-very-anxious-nervy-kind-of-loser-in-many-ways-and-i-get-very/) [Ed Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-weeks/) > [Dogs seek attention from you. But by paying them that attention when they want it, you're reinforcing the bad or hyperactive or anxious behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-millan/dogs-seek-attention-from-you-but-by-paying-them-that-attention-when/) [Cesar Millan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-millan/) > [I am not anxious to be the loudest voice or the most popular. 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