--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not worry or even think of spelling…" description: "\"I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or punctuation (except periods) at this point. . .In the early throes of an idea there..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg" --- # I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar… ![“I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or punctuation (except periods) at this point. . .In the early throes of an idea there is for me only grammar of the mind, which is a flow of thought, as natural and precise as the flow of a river to the sea.” quote by Mary O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg) > “I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or punctuation (except periods) at this point. . .In the early throes of an idea there is for me only grammar of the mind, which is a flow of thought, as natural and precise as the flow of a river to the sea.” Mary O'Neill ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author dismisses concern for formal writing rules, emphasizing that early ideas flow naturally like a river. **In simple terms:** Early ideas flow freely, without strict grammar. Key Takeaway Embrace raw thought before polishing. Themes creativity writing mindset Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - brainstorming sessions - first drafts - creative workshops - journaling - academic research Key Concepts stream of consciousness idea generation Questions to Reflect On - How does ignoring form affect idea clarity? - When is it appropriate to prioritize flow over correctness? A Different Perspective Polished writing still requires clarity and structure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Grammar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Precise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precise/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [The flow of thought is like river and just as a dam diverts a river, we can divert our thinking by the strength of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kishore-bansal/the-flow-of-thought-is-like-river-and-just-as-a-dam-diverts-a-river/) [Kishore Bansal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kishore-bansal/) > [Identification prevents and perverts the flow of thought-feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/identification-prevents-and-perverts-the-flow-of-thought-feeling/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Most important, though, is the flow of the thought process: understand the marketing business problem you are trying to solve and the questions you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jeffery/most-important-though-is-the-flow-of-the-thought-process-understand/) [Mark Jeffery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jeffery/) > [“The unceasing flow of thought in all its various forms is an inescapable and defining aspect of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-o-brien/the-unceasing-flow-of-thought-in-all-its-various-forms-is-an/) [Paul O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-o-brien/) > [I write things that I love I write things that I hate but the problem with what I write is I poorly punctuate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-write-things-that-i-love-i-write-things-that-i-hate-but-the-problem/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [Balthazar was the kind of guy who used totally correct spelling and punctuation even when he was texting, which was sort of bizarrely hot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-gray/balthazar-was-the-kind-of-guy-who-used-totally-correct-spelling-and/) [Claudia Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-gray/) > [Ladies, if you want to know the way to my heart... good spelling and good grammar, good punctuation, capitalize only where you are supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/ladies-if-you-want-to-know-the-way-to-my-heart-good-spelling-and-good/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [This morning arrives a letter from my ancient silver-mining comrade, Calvin H. Higbie, a man whom I have not seen nor had communication with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/this-morning-arrives-a-letter-from-my-ancient-silver-mining-comrade/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [As someone who sends texts messages more or less non-stop, I enjoy one particular aspect of texting more than anything else: that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/as-someone-who-sends-texts-messages-more-or-less-non-stop-i-enjoy-one/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“I gave her a love letter and she returned it back to me by correcting spelling and punctuation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/i-gave-her-a-love-letter-and-she-returned-it-back-to-me-by-correcting/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Lexical variety, eccentric constructions and punctuation, variant spellings, archaisms, the ability to pile clause on clause, the effortless incorporation of words from other languages:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/lexical-variety-eccentric-constructions-and-punctuation-variant/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“Apparently, my hopes, dreams and aspirations were no match against my poor spelling, punctuation and grammar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-red-rover/apparently-my-hopes-dreams-and-aspirations-were-no-match-against-my/) Red Red Rover > [Let grammar, punctuation, and spelling into your life! Even the most energetic and wonderful mess has to be turned into sentences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/let-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-into-your-life-even-the-most/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in modern spelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/when-we-study-shakespeare-on-the-page-for-academic-purposes-we-may/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn't inhibit the creative flow. When I was at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-morpurgo/it-is-really-important-that-focusing-on-things-such-as-spelling/) [Michael Morpurgo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-morpurgo/) ## More by Mary O'Neill > [“Think of what starlight And lamplight would lack Diamonds and fireflies If they couldn’t lean against Black. . . .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/think-of-what-starlight-and-lamplight-would-lack-diamonds-and/) Mary O'Neill > [Who has not first tried to get out of a tough situation before truly dealing with it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/who-has-not-first-tried-to-get-out-of-a-tough-situation-before-truly/) Mary O'Neill > [Time is purple / Just before night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/time-is-purple-just-before-night/) Mary O'Neill Explore all 4 Mary O'Neill quotes ## More Flow quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Behind every word flows energy. 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Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“When we strike a balance between the challenge of an activity and our skill at performing it, when the rhythm of the work itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-we-strike-a-balance-between-the-challenge-of-an-activity-and-our/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I have this belief about things happening organically. I believe life has this organic flow in a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoko-mori/i-have-this-belief-about-things-happening-organically-i-believe-life/) Naoko Mori > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [“Life is a flow which we can either resist or go with it gracefully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonmoy-acharjee/life-is-a-flow-which-we-can-either-resist-or-go-with-it-gracefully/) Tonmoy Acharjee > [What a strange power the perception of beauty is! It seems to ebb and flow like some secret tide, independent alike of health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/what-a-strange-power-the-perception-of-beauty-is-it-seems-to-ebb-and/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) [Browse all 3,282 Flow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or punctuation (except periods) at this point. . .In the early throes of an idea there is for me only grammar of the mind, which is a flow of thought, as natural and precise as the flow of a river to the sea.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary O'Neill" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling-grammar-paragraphing-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling-grammar-paragraphing-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e92/mary-o-neill-71982_flow_i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling_1447498.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not worry or even think of spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or punctuation (except periods) at this…” — Mary O'Neill", "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": "Mary O'Neill", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-neill/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I do not worry or even...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling-grammar-paragraphing-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-neill/i-do-not-worry-or-even-think-of-spelling-grammar-paragraphing-or/#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 } } ] } ```