--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My method is the magpie's: I look for…" description: "\"My method is the magpie's: I look for shiny things. That is, I look for concrete material details of daily life, and I look for vigorous prose, which i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab1/luc-sante-25406_concrete_my-method-is-the-magpie-s-i-look-for-shi_455261.jpg" --- # My method is the magpie's: I look for shiny things. That… ![“My method is the magpie's: I look for shiny things. That is, I look for concrete material details of daily life, and I look for vigorous prose, which is the only kind I can read for very long. That effectively bars a great deal of scholarly work, but I didn't feel its loss.” quote by Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab1/luc-sante-25406_concrete_my-method-is-the-magpie-s-i-look-for-shi_455261.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab1/luc-sante-25406_concrete_my-method-is-the-magpie-s-i-look-for-shi_455261.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab1/luc-sante-25406_concrete_my-method-is-the-magpie-s-i-look-for-shi_455261.jpg) > “My method is the magpie's: I look for shiny things. That is, I look for concrete material details of daily life, and I look for vigorous prose, which is the only kind I can read for very long. That effectively bars a great deal of scholarly work, but I didn't feel its loss.” [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He values vivid, concrete details and lively prose, rejecting dense scholarly work. **In simple terms:** He prefers vivid details and lively writing over heavy scholarship. Key Takeaway Seek concrete detail and energetic language. Themes writing detail vividness literary taste focus Mood analytical reflective Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - Creative writing workshops - journalism - personal essays - editing practice Key Concepts Narrative technique materialism readability Questions to Reflect On - How does detail enhance storytelling? - When is scholarly depth necessary? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper analysis that scholarly work provides. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) [Daily life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-life/) [I can read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can-read/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Method Magpie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method-magpie-3965337/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Prose Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose-kind-1351900/) [Scholarly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scholarly/) [Shiny things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shiny-things/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“...guided the sentence that was drawing to an end towards that which was waiting to begin, now hastening, now slackening the pace of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/guided-the-sentence-that-was-drawing-to-an-end-towards-that-which-was/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“breathed into this quite ordinary prose a kind of life, continuous and full of feeling. My”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/breathed-into-this-quite-ordinary-prose-a-kind-of-life-continuous-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Watoto hupenda vitu vinavyong’aa ambavyo havijatulia na vilivyopangiliwa vizuri. Hivyo ndivyo macho ya binadamu yalivyo: yana unyevu na yanaakisi mwanga, hayajatulia, na yana rangi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enock-maregesi/watoto-hupenda-vitu-vinavyong-aa-ambavyo-havijatulia-na/) [Enock Maregesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enock-maregesi/) > [One of the reasons why language is so sick right now and cliché-ridden and lame and boring and laid-out, and about to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dorn/one-of-the-reasons-why-language-is-so-sick-right-now-and-clich-ridden/) [Edward Dorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dorn/) > [“Good writers are like magpies, attracted to shiny things and storing away treasures - pieces of dialogue and experience - which pop up from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wilson-howarth/good-writers-are-like-magpies-attracted-to-shiny-things-and-storing/) [Jane Wilson-Howarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wilson-howarth/) > [Like a magpie, I am a scavenger of shiny things: fairy tales, dead languages, weird folk beliefs, fascinating religions, and more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/like-a-magpie-i-am-a-scavenger-of-shiny-things-fairy-tales-dead/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [I feel a bit like a magpie attracted to shiny things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-feel-a-bit-like-a-magpie-attracted-to-shiny-things/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [In search of love and music My whole life has been Illumination Corruption And diving, diving, diving, diving, Diving down to pick up every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/in-search-of-love-and-music-my-whole-life-has-been-illumination/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [I'm addicted to laughing. I go to see a lot of comedy shows. I'm addicted to playing really loud and obnoxious rock music in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadia-giosia/i-m-addicted-to-laughing-i-go-to-see-a-lot-of-comedy-shows-i-m/) [Nadia Giosia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadia-giosia/) > [I don't know if there's enough vision. Industry wide, the apathy regarding this recent problem is already setting in - shiny things are happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-de-raadt/i-don-t-know-if-there-s-enough-vision-industry-wide-the-apathy/) [Theo de Raadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-de-raadt/) > [Her laughter was a shiny thing, like pewter flung high in the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/her-laughter-was-a-shiny-thing-like-pewter-flung-high-in-the-air/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [I was really in to shiny things when I was younger and I stole a shiny tag for my dog. I didn't get caught.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-hoult/i-was-really-in-to-shiny-things-when-i-was-younger-and-i-stole-a/) [Nicholas Hoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-hoult/) > [Little children love bright, shiny things - and in my experience, most grown-up women aren't very different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheherazade-goldsmith/little-children-love-bright-shiny-things-and-in-my-experience-most/) [Sheherazade Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheherazade-goldsmith/) > [It's easy to have a relationship and show each other only the beautiful shiny things. Sharing good parts about you is elementary, so finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-sanchez/it-s-easy-to-have-a-relationship-and-show-each-other-only-the/) [Claudio Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudio-sanchez/) > [“Rooster/Pisces: Likes shiny things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-white/rooster-pisces-likes-shiny-things/) [Suzanne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-white/) ## More by Luc Sante > [All I know about 1970s New York City is that it's where I grew up, and you always have an umbilical connection to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/all-i-know-about-1970s-new-york-city-is-that-it-s-where-i-grew-up-and/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Like a four-sided porch I'm open to all winds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/like-a-four-sided-porch-i-m-open-to-all-winds/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Many writers and artists portrayed the poor sympathetically, and even fought on their behalf, but they themselves were not of that class. Gay life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/many-writers-and-artists-portrayed-the-poor-sympathetically-and-even/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Neoliberalism seems to ramp up every day, making it ever more difficult for anyone but corporations to own and run things and define the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/neoliberalism-seems-to-ramp-up-every-day-making-it-ever-more/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [When I was a child I did engage in an arduous struggle to pass: learning English, getting rid of my accent, becoming conversant with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/when-i-was-a-child-i-did-engage-in-an-arduous-struggle-to-pass/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [The con is a kind of jiu-jitsu that turns the sucker's own greed into its principal weapon. The greedier you are the more likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/the-con-is-a-kind-of-jiu-jitsu-that-turns-the-sucker-s-own-greed-into/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [The US remains an object of fascination for me, and the subject of much study, but while many of my friends etc. are American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/the-us-remains-an-object-of-fascination-for-me-and-the-subject-of/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [I try to take pictures on their own terms, considering the historical and social context from which they emerge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/i-try-to-take-pictures-on-their-own-terms-considering-the-historical/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [I've always assumed it to be an absolute requirement for being a writer: to find all emotions and the sources of all behaviors somewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/i-ve-always-assumed-it-to-be-an-absolute-requirement-for-being-a/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Self-reinvention is an essential trope of the American project, closely linked to another such trope: going on the lam. Both are regularly featured in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/self-reinvention-is-an-essential-trope-of-the-american-project/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [I confess I prefer to engage with pictures which I've chosen myself out of the welter of unidentified pictures, without the intrusion of too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/i-confess-i-prefer-to-engage-with-pictures-which-i-ve-chosen-myself/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Call yourself "Colonel" and declare that your fortune was left to you by Dutch burghers from the seventeenth century. Now you're a solid citizen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/call-yourself-colonel-and-declare-that-your-fortune-was-left-to-you/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [I thought of New York as a free city, like one of those prewar nests of intrigue and licentiousness where exiles and lamsters and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/i-thought-of-new-york-as-a-free-city-like-one-of-those-prewar-nests/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [Paris had more sex than most church-laden places, and more church than most sex-laden places. Parisians crowed about Travail-Famille-Patrie while frequenting brothels. They enjoyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/paris-had-more-sex-than-most-church-laden-places-and-more-church-than/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [My ideal city is more like the city (New York and Paris come to mind, but it sort of applies to all) that existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/my-ideal-city-is-more-like-the-city-new-york-and-paris-come-to-mind/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) [Explore all 23 Luc Sante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) ## More Concrete quotes > [I used a psychologist when I was playing, It's one of the most powerful things: how you can have a concrete head and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-parker/i-used-a-psychologist-when-i-was-playing-it-s-one-of-the-most/) [Scott Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-parker/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [I just can't recruit where there's grass around. You gotta have a concrete lawn before I feel comfortable enough to go in and talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/i-just-can-t-recruit-where-there-s-grass-around-you-gotta-have-a/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [While much of modern behavioral and social science treats individuals as autonomous agents, it is absolutely clear that the way we think and act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-r-nelson/while-much-of-modern-behavioral-and-social-science-treats-individuals/) [Richard R. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-r-nelson/) > [...it is a very risky thing for anyone to go about proclaiming the truth simply because he finds himself in possession of concrete documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-amado/it-is-a-very-risky-thing-for-anyone-to-go-about-proclaiming-the-truth/) [Jorge Amado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-amado/) > [Perhaps, if science is clever enough to see, it will realize that religion may not be too far off with its concrete imagery; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lanza/perhaps-if-science-is-clever-enough-to-see-it-will-realize-that/) [Robert Lanza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lanza/) > [“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/but-what-a-feeling-can-come-over-a-man-just-from-seeing-the-things-he/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [There's a point in me where it's beyond sad, seeing the state of the world today. It's so screwed up. It's terrible, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/there-s-a-point-in-me-where-it-s-beyond-sad-seeing-the-state-of-the/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-psychological-condition-of-fear-is-divorced-from-any-concrete-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Every design is a rigorous attempt to capture a concrete moment of a transitory image in all its nuances. The extent to which this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvaro-siza-vieira/every-design-is-a-rigorous-attempt-to-capture-a-concrete-moment-of-a/) [Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvaro-siza-vieira/) > [Once you stop talking about the female body empowering itself vis-à-vis male forays or invasions or male demands or the necessity to respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/once-you-stop-talking-about-the-female-body-empowering-itself-vis-vis/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [To slide into the domed reading room at ten each morning, specially in summer, off the hot street outside, was a sensation as delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/to-slide-into-the-domed-reading-room-at-ten-each-morning-specially-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Like the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/like-the-good-samaritan-may-we-not-be-ashamed-of-touching-the-wounds/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) [Browse all 868 Concrete quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My method is the magpie's: I look for shiny things. 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