--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have a notebook with me all the time…" description: "\"I have a notebook with me all the time, and I begin scribbling a few words. When things are going well, the walk does not get anywhere; I finally just ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/mary-oliver-570_notebook_i-have-a-notebook-with-me-all-the-time-a_1438038.jpg" --- # I have a notebook with me all the time, and I begin… ![“I have a notebook with me all the time, and I begin scribbling a few words. When things are going well, the walk does not get anywhere; I finally just stop and write.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/mary-oliver-570_notebook_i-have-a-notebook-with-me-all-the-time-a_1438038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/mary-oliver-570_notebook_i-have-a-notebook-with-me-all-the-time-a_1438038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/mary-oliver-570_notebook_i-have-a-notebook-with-me-all-the-time-a_1438038.jpg) > “I have a notebook with me all the time, and I begin scribbling a few words. When things are going well, the walk does not get anywhere; I finally just stop and write.” [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing captures fleeting thoughts, turning moments into lasting records. **In simple terms:** Writing preserves moments. Key Takeaway Write whenever inspiration strikes. Themes creativity mindfulness solitude Mood thoughtful contemplative Type literary personal When to use this quote - travel - daily commute - waiting rooms - quiet evenings Key Concepts self‑expression reflection journaling Questions to Reflect On - What moments do you let slip? - How does writing change your perception? A Different Perspective Writing may interrupt flow of activity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Notebook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebook/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [When I sit down with my notebook, when I start scribbling words across the page, I find out what I'm feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/when-i-sit-down-with-my-notebook-when-i-start-scribbling-words-across/) [Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/) > [At some point, sitting in the school library, during reading period, I looked up from my leopard print hardcover composition notebook where I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/at-some-point-sitting-in-the-school-library-during-reading-period-i/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Turn off your cell phone. Honestly, if you want to get work done, you’ve got to learn to unplug. No texting, no email, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/turn-off-your-cell-phone-honestly-if-you-want-to-get-work-done-you-ve/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Every now and then, I have these moments where I feel somebody needs to be told to just stop. Sometimes, they would write nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shibani-dandekar/every-now-and-then-i-have-these-moments-where-i-feel-somebody-needs/) [Shibani Dandekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shibani-dandekar/) > [I think the biggest advice I can offer is don't just pick one story and stop, write as much as you can, as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-mcduffie/i-think-the-biggest-advice-i-can-offer-is-don-t-just-pick-one-story/) [Dwayne McDuffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-mcduffie/) > [“When you've got creative momentum, the last thing you want to do is stop. I'd write and write and wake up with my head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-inglis/when-you-ve-got-creative-momentum-the-last-thing-you-want-to-do-is/) [Kate Inglis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-inglis/) > [I'm a very organised and rational and linear thinker, and you have to stop all that to write a novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-m-a-very-organised-and-rational-and-linear-thinker-and-you-have-to/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [My two daughters are now engaged in a scribbling rivalry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-duke/my-two-daughters-are-now-engaged-in-a-scribbling-rivalry/) [Annie Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-duke/) > [The itch of scribbling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/the-itch-of-scribbling/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [I wake up in the morning and I still have a passion for what I do, and I'll be doing it when I'm 105,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-collins/i-wake-up-in-the-morning-and-i-still-have-a-passion-for-what-i-do-and/) [Jackie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-collins/) > [Writing graphical marks (scribbling) of consciousness and soul on infinity's palm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/writing-graphical-marks-scribbling-of-consciousness-and-soul-on/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [Scribbling things down is my therapy. I filter later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natascha-mcelhone/scribbling-things-down-is-my-therapy-i-filter-later/) [Natascha McElhone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natascha-mcelhone/) > [What I enjoy most are those times when I get an idea and it just flows - the words coming so fast that I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-cypess/what-i-enjoy-most-are-those-times-when-i-get-an-idea-and-it-just/) [Leah Cypess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-cypess/) > [You know I'm on the grind. So I miss you at times. All on my mind, as I'm scribbling lines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/you-know-i-m-on-the-grind-so-i-miss-you-at-times-all-on-my-mind-as-i/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [I've never been a very prolific person, so when creativity flows, it flows. I find myself scribbling on little notepads and pieces of loose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/i-ve-never-been-a-very-prolific-person-so-when-creativity-flows-it/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) ## More by Mary Oliver > [Belief isn't always easy. But this much I have learned--- if not enough else--- to live with my eyes open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/belief-isn-t-always-easy-but-this-much-i-have-learned-if-not-enough/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/in-this-universe-we-are-given-two-gifts-the-ability-to-love-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Poetry is one of the original arts, and it began, as did all the fine arts, within the original wilderness of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-one-of-the-original-arts-and-it-began-as-did-all-the-fine/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The dream of my life is to lie down by a slow river and stare at the light in the trees - to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-dream-of-my-life-is-to-lie-down-by-a-slow-river-and-stare-at-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/tell-me-what-is-it-you-plan-to-do-with-your-one-wild-and-precious-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers. • To understand many things you must reach out of your own condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/all-important-ideas-must-include-the-trees-the-mountains-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Sometimes I think, were I just a little rougher made, I would go altogether to the woods—to my work entirely, and solitude, a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/sometimes-i-think-were-i-just-a-little-rougher-made-i-would-go/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“First Snow The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/first-snow-the-snow-began-here-this-morning-and-all-day-continued-its/) [mary oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What can I say that I have not said before? So I’ll say it again. The leaf has a song in it. Stone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-can-i-say-that-i-have-not-said-before-so-i-ll-say-it-again-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The sea is the most beautiful face in our universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-sea-is-the-most-beautiful-face-in-our-universe/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [There is nothing better than work. Work is also play; children know that. Children play earnestly as if it were work. But people grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/there-is-nothing-better-than-work-work-is-also-play-children-know/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What will you do with your one precious, wild life?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-will-you-do-with-your-one-precious-wild-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-for-poems-are-not-words-after-all/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“I stood like Adam in his lonely garden On that first morning, shaken out of sleep, Rubbing his eyes, listening, parting the leaves, Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-stood-like-adam-in-his-lonely-garden-on-that-first-morning-shaken/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/we-all-have-a-hungry-heart-and-one-of-the-things-we-hunger-for-is/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) [Explore all 470 Mary Oliver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## More Notebook quotes > [My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/my-writing-routine-is-get-son-off-to-school-and-sit-down-at-8-a-m-i/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [It's hard no to work, so I find a way to put myself back to work. And I think it's important, in between projects,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-jolie/it-s-hard-no-to-work-so-i-find-a-way-to-put-myself-back-to-work-and-i/) [Angelina Jolie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-jolie/) > [Actually, when I look at my old notebooks, I think I have been a bit self-indulgent and have given myself too much time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/actually-when-i-look-at-my-old-notebooks-i-think-i-have-been-a-bit/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [My little notebooks were beginnings - they were the ground into which I dropped the seed... I would work in this way when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/my-little-notebooks-were-beginnings-they-were-the-ground-into-which-i/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Everything about writing is hard for me except for that - the names pop into my head. That's one of the reasons why I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/everything-about-writing-is-hard-for-me-except-for-that-the-names-pop/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [You get attached to the way you write, and I'm attached to notebooks. That's where I really write the plays. Just two or three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/you-get-attached-to-the-way-you-write-and-i-m-attached-to-notebooks/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [My inspiration comes from everywhere, just walking down the street and I never know where it's going to come from, so I keep a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/my-inspiration-comes-from-everywhere-just-walking-down-the-street-and/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [I'm giving all that I have in this life. I'm opening up my notebook, and I'm saying everything in there out loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-m-giving-all-that-i-have-in-this-life-i-m-opening-up-my-notebook/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [I'm not asking a poem to carry a lot of rocks in its pockets. Just being an ordinary observer and liver and feeler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/i-m-not-asking-a-poem-to-carry-a-lot-of-rocks-in-its-pockets-just/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [I belong to this notebook and this pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-belong-to-this-notebook-and-this-pencil/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I had already done a lot of research for Rough Riders, keeping notebooks and old photographs. Some of the books were antiques for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-berenger/i-had-already-done-a-lot-of-research-for-rough-riders-keeping/) [Tom Berenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-berenger/) > [“Please return this notebook to where you found it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/please-return-this-notebook-to-where-you-found-it/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) > [“I pull out my notebook from my bag and open it. I read through all the pages I’ve written. 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If you need another outlet, make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/buy-a-blank-notebook-draw-a-huge-heart-on-the-cover-dont-write/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) [Browse all 383 Notebook quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebook/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have a notebook with me all the time, and I begin scribbling a few words. 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