--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dad always said a person must have a…" description: "\"“Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it. Unless your name is som..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/marisha-pessl-1802_free-time_dad-always-said-a-person-must-have-a-mag_614070.png" --- # Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason… ![“Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it. Unless your name is something along the lines of Mozart, Matisse, Churchill, Che Guevara or Bond - James Bond - you best spent your free time finger painting or playing…” quote by Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/marisha-pessl-1802_free-time_dad-always-said-a-person-must-have-a-mag_614070.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/marisha-pessl-1802_free-time_dad-always-said-a-person-must-have-a-mag_614070.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/marisha-pessl-1802_free-time_dad-always-said-a-person-must-have-a-mag_614070.png) > ““Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it. Unless your name is something along the lines of Mozart, Matisse, Churchill, Che Guevara or Bond - James Bond - you best spent your free time finger painting or playing shuffeboard, for no one, with the exception of your flabby-armed mother with stiff hair and a mashed potato way of looking at you, will want to hear the particulars of your pitiable existence, which doubtlessly will end as it began - with a wheeze.”” [Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/) ## 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 satirically suggests that only extraordinary individuals deserve an audience for their life story; most people’s narratives are unremarkable and ignored. **In simple terms:** Only the famous merit being heard. Key Takeaway Focus on living, not impressing. Themes humor self‑deprecation celebrity Mood wry reflective Type satirical observational When to use this quote - writing - personal storytelling - creative expression - seeking validation Key Concepts existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Do you write for yourself or an audience? - What makes a story worth telling? A Different Perspective Most readers ignore ordinary lives, so sharing may feel futile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Free time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-time/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-story/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I had written many things as a journalist, but I had no idea if I could write something scary or romantic or touching that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-giles/i-had-written-many-things-as-a-journalist-but-i-had-no-idea-if-i/) [Jeff Giles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-giles/) > [“Search your own life for the story only you can tell. 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Another reason for writing a diary is to discover that the ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/you-do-not-know-is-in-you-an-inexhaustible-fountain-of-ideas-another/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“Dad said certain people's sanity, in order to maintain a healthy equilibrium, required getting messy once in a while, what he called "going Chekhovian:"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisha-pessl/dad-said-certain-people-s-sanity-in-order-to-maintain-a-healthy/) [Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/) > [“The underlying reason for writing is to bridge the gulf between one person and another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/the-underlying-reason-for-writing-is-to-bridge-the-gulf-between-one/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“I remembered what Dad said once, that some people have all of life's answers worked out the day they're born and there's no use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisha-pessl/i-remembered-what-dad-said-once-that-some-people-have-all-of-life-s/) [Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/) > [We can never know, for the good reason that writing is the destruction of every voice, every origin. Writing is that neuter, that composite,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/we-can-never-know-for-the-good-reason-that-writing-is-the-destruction/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Part of the reason I'm writing it is to try to figure out what that is myself. 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Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“It was the cause of many of Dad's outrages too, when people elected themselves his personal oracle of Delphi... 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