--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I started all over again on page 1…" description: "\"I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.\" — John Gregory Dunne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg" --- # I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages… ![“I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.” quote by John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg) > “I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.” [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote describes a writer's frustration, repeatedly revisiting the same material in search of fresh inspiration. **In simple terms:** Writer feels stuck, circling old work for new ideas. Key Takeaway Persist and seek new perspectives when stuck. Themes writing creativity frustration Mood determined hopeful Type creative motivational When to use this quote - authoring a novel - screenwriting - academic research - journalism - personal journaling Key Concepts process inspiration iteration Questions to Reflect On - How do you break creative loops? - What fresh sources can revitalize your work? A Different Perspective Repetition can lead to stagnation without new input. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [262 Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/262-pages-5471799/) [Circling 262](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circling-262-5471804/) [Flesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flesh/) [Like Vulture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-vulture-3252859/) [Page Circling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/page-circling-1893000/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Vulture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulture/) [Vulture Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulture-looking-5471801/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“The man who is not loved soars like a vulture over the mistresses of other men;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-man-who-is-not-loved-soars-like-a-vulture-over-the-mistresses-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“He looked like a vulture dissatisfied with its breakfast corpse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/he-looked-like-a-vulture-dissatisfied-with-its-breakfast-corpse/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [I eat like a vulture. Unfortunately the resemblance doesn't end there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/i-eat-like-a-vulture-unfortunately-the-resemblance-doesn-t-end-there/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/words-had-started-swimming-off-the-page-circling-my-head-the-letters/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“For the first time in our lives, we were living on the backs of others, but that was how you got ahead in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/for-the-first-time-in-our-lives-we-were-living-on-the-backs-of-others/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Feature the good culture to never be like the vulture that doesn't have a good posture in the picture, the structure you make from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elijah-onyenmeriogu/feature-the-good-culture-to-never-be-like-the-vulture-that-doesn-t/) [Elijah Onyenmeriogu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elijah-onyenmeriogu/) > [“Each dark conjecture came and for a moment settled like a vulture on Bond's shoulder and croaked into his ear that he had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/each-dark-conjecture-came-and-for-a-moment-settled-like-a-vulture-on/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [Someone said to me, "How's your rabbit food?" I said, "Fine." ... "How's your vulture food?"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-graham/someone-said-to-me-how-s-your-rabbit-food-i-said-fine-how-s-your/) [Doug Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-graham/) > [Heart of a vulture Constantly together, But always apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/heart-of-a-vulture-constantly-together-but-always-apart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Author: A common gadabout who freely wanders over the landscape with wanton disregard. His days are spent picking up all the stray free words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-throckmorton/author-a-common-gadabout-who-freely-wanders-over-the-landscape-with/) [Leopold Throckmorton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-throckmorton/) > [...most of the press were vultures descending on the scene for curious America aplomb. Cameras inside the coffin interviewing worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/most-of-the-press-were-vultures-descending-on-the-scene-for-curious/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-the-country-the-darkness-of-night-is-friendly-and-familiar-but-in/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If true, the Pythagorean principles as to abstain from flesh, foster innocence; if ill-founded they at least teach us frugality, and what loss have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/if-true-the-pythagorean-principles-as-to-abstain-from-flesh-foster/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [He groaned slightly and winced like Prometheus watching his vulture dropping in for lunch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-groaned-slightly-and-winced-like-prometheus-watching-his-vulture/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by John Gregory Dunne > [“Writing is a manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/writing-is-a-manual-labor-of-the-mind-a-job-like-laying-pipe/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [New York is at once cosmopolitan and parochial, a compendium of sentimental certainties. It is in fact the most sentimental of the world's great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/new-york-is-at-once-cosmopolitan-and-parochial-a-compendium-of/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [Novels do take charge of the writer, and the writer is basically a kind of sheepdog just trying to keep things on track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/novels-do-take-charge-of-the-writer-and-the-writer-is-basically-a/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [Violence is the way stupid people try to level the playing field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/violence-is-the-way-stupid-people-try-to-level-the-playing-field/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [The world is divided up into two kinds of people - those who look at their body waste in the toilet bowl, and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/the-world-is-divided-up-into-two-kinds-of-people-those-who-look-at/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [The professional guts a book through - in full knowledge that what he is doing is not very good. Not to work is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/the-professional-guts-a-book-through-in-full-knowledge-that-what-he/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [Because one has written other books does not mean the next becomes any easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/because-one-has-written-other-books-does-not-mean-the-next-becomes/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [I’ve always thought a novelist only has one character and that is himself or herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/i-ve-always-thought-a-novelist-only-has-one-character-and-that-is/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [The narrative was too constricted; it was like a fetus strangling on its own umbilical cord.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/the-narrative-was-too-constricted-it-was-like-a-fetus-strangling-on/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [There are two types of people ... the scrutinizers and the scrutinized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/there-are-two-types-of-people-the-scrutinizers-and-the-scrutinized/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [The point of a notebook is to jumpstart the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/the-point-of-a-notebook-is-to-jumpstart-the-mind/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [The eleventh commandment of a motion picture negotiation: Thou shalt not take less than thy last deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/the-eleventh-commandment-of-a-motion-picture-negotiation-thou-shalt/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) [Explore all 13 John Gregory Dunne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) ## More Flesh quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) [Harold McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-mcgee/) > [If Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, He's one of a kind of the 13 billions of people who have ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/if-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-in-human-flesh-he-s-one-of-a-kind-of-the/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Paul closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. In spite of everything, it was hard not to take solace from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/paul-closed-his-eyes-and-turned-his-face-to-the-sun-in-spite-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health. Considerably more than three parts of the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-booth/it-is-a-great-delusion-to-suppose-that-flesh-meat-of-any-kind-is/) [Catherine Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-booth/) > [You asked me once if I would still love you when your lips were puckered with age and your eyes were faded. I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/you-asked-me-once-if-i-would-still-love-you-when-your-lips-were/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [What do you mean 'we,' flesh-tube?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bender-the-cartoon-character/what-do-you-mean-we-flesh-tube/) [Bender (The Cartoon Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bender-the-cartoon-character/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Browse all 2,061 Flesh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flesh/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Gregory Dunne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circling-the-262-pages-like-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flesh" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circling-the-262-pages-like-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/john-gregory-dunne-35282_flesh_i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circl_2307972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.” — John Gregory Dunne", "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": "John Gregory Dunne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I started all over again on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circling-the-262-pages-like-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/i-started-all-over-again-on-page-1-circling-the-262-pages-like-a/#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 } } ] } ```