--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By the time I got to high school, I had…" description: "\"“By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure stories. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/t-a-obreht-11276_dreams_by-the-time-i-got-to-high-school-i-had-l_357813.jpg" --- # By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more… ![“By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure stories. This was before I’d read Isak Dinesen and Mikhail Bulgakov, before Ernest Hemingway and T. Coraghessan Boyle, before I’d read something and really…” quote by Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/t-a-obreht-11276_dreams_by-the-time-i-got-to-high-school-i-had-l_357813.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/t-a-obreht-11276_dreams_by-the-time-i-got-to-high-school-i-had-l_357813.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/t-a-obreht-11276_dreams_by-the-time-i-got-to-high-school-i-had-l_357813.jpg) > ““By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure stories. This was before I’d read Isak Dinesen and Mikhail Bulgakov, before Ernest Hemingway and T. Coraghessan Boyle, before I’d read something and really felt it, when writing was still just a compulsion, and my teen-age brain was only bordering on sentience. I filled pages of white space with swashbuckling, rapier-wielding, sidekick-sacrificing, dragon-baiting romance. (from ' High-School Confidential ' in the The New Yorker.)”” [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer describes learning to hide ambitions and write escapist stories before discovering deeper literary influences. **In simple terms:** Teen writer hides dreams, writes adventure, later gains literary depth. Key Takeaway Embrace early creativity, stay open to growth. Themes self‑discovery literary development adventure writing Mood reflective nostalgic Type personal literary When to use this quote - high‑school writing - first drafts - literary exploration - seeking authentic voice Key Concepts coming‑of‑age influence of mentors creative compulsion Questions to Reflect On - How did early escapist writing shape later voice? - What mentors changed your perspective? A Different Perspective Early enthusiasm may lack depth; growth requires exposure to varied voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure-stories-528018/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Dreams Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams-reading-2631424/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ernest-hemingway/) [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isak-dinesen-223865/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Revealing Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revealing-dreams-3291560/) [Swashbuckling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swashbuckling/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [White space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-space/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-adventure-1191965/) ## Related quotes > [“we then busied our souls in dreams—reading, writing, or conversing, until warned by the clock of the advent of the true Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/we-then-busied-our-souls-in-dreams-reading-writing-or-conversing/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [What are books but tangible dreams? What is reading if it is not dreaming? The best books cause us to dream; the rest are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rikki-ducornet/what-are-books-but-tangible-dreams-what-is-reading-if-it-is-not/) [Rikki Ducornet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rikki-ducornet/) > [Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/reading-is-the-key-that-opens-doors-to-many-good-things-in-life/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [I believe that everyone, some time or other, dreams that he is reading papers, books, or letters; in which case the invention prompts so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/i-believe-that-everyone-some-time-or-other-dreams-that-he-is-reading/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Writing is an adventure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/writing-is-an-adventure/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“Writing is an adventure. There is no way to know where it will take you, and what you will find. You could find success.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-kirin/writing-is-an-adventure-there-is-no-way-to-know-where-it-will-take/) [M. Kirin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-kirin/) > [Long before I became a feminist in any explicit way, I had turned from writing love stories about women in which women were losers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-russ/long-before-i-became-a-feminist-in-any-explicit-way-i-had-turned-from/) [Joanna Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-russ/) > [Writing should be an adventure, shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, blessed with amazing grace. In theory, of course](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/writing-should-be-an-adventure-shrouded-in-mystery-and-uncertainty/) [Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/) > [I'd hate to be writing 'Adventure Time' comics and not be excited about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-north/i-d-hate-to-be-writing-adventure-time-comics-and-not-be-excited-about/) [Ryan North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-north/) > [Isak Dinesen said that she wrote a little every day, without hope and without despair. I like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/isak-dinesen-said-that-she-wrote-a-little-every-day-without-hope-and/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [“Isak Dinesen said that life is no more than a process for turning healthy young puppies into mangy old dogs and man but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-vine/isak-dinesen-said-that-life-is-no-more-than-a-process-for-turning/) [Barbara Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-vine/) > [I must confess I love female writers: Jane Austen, Isak Dinesen, Colette, Willa Cather, Dawn Powell, Joan Didion. I grew up on the Bronte…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjelica-huston/i-must-confess-i-love-female-writers-jane-austen-isak-dinesen-colette/) [Anjelica Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjelica-huston/) > [“From all we have said about plotting in general it should be evident that even in those modern plots in which events happen by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/from-all-we-have-said-about-plotting-in-general-it-should-be-evident/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“What was it Isak Dinesen had said about salt as a cure? Tears, sweat, or the sea. She could use a cure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-post/what-was-it-isak-dinesen-had-said-about-salt-as-a-cure-tears-sweat-or/) [Nina Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-post/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More by Téa Obreht > [“I felt my voice had fallen through and through me, and I couldn't summon it back to tell him or myself anything at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/i-felt-my-voice-had-fallen-through-and-through-me-and-i-couldn-t/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [I grew up in Cyprus and Egypt, these fantastic places I remember fondly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/i-grew-up-in-cyprus-and-egypt-these-fantastic-places-i-remember-fondly/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories: the story of the tiger’s wife, and the story of the deathless man. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/everything-necessary-to-understand-my-grandfather-lies-between-two/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“People become very upset,' Gavo tells me, 'when they find out they are going to die' . . . 'They behave very strangely,' he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/people-become-very-upset-gavo-tells-me-when-they-find-out-they-are/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [No matter how grave the secret, how imperative absolute silence, someone would always feel the urge to confess, and an unleashed secret is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/no-matter-how-grave-the-secret-how-imperative-absolute-silence/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“To me, the persistence of my grandfather's rituals meant that he was unchanged, running on discipline and continuance and stoicism. I didn't notice, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/to-me-the-persistence-of-my-grandfather-s-rituals-meant-that-he-was/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [At the end of the day, it's about the reader's attachment to and belief in the magical elements that make or break magical realism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/at-the-end-of-the-day-it-s-about-the-reader-s-attachment-to-and/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [ “I started to feel that nagging sense of shame again, an acute awareness of my own inability to share in his \[my grandfather's\] optimism.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/i-started-to-feel-that-nagging-sense-of-shame-again-an-acute/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [I think the mythology of death really ran away with me when I was very young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/i-think-the-mythology-of-death-really-ran-away-with-me-when-i-was/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [A lot of writers that I know have told me that the first book you write, you write about your childhood, whether you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/a-lot-of-writers-that-i-know-have-told-me-that-the-first-book-you/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [When you're in a place, the details you focus on are different than details you focus on when you're writing about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/when-you-re-in-a-place-the-details-you-focus-on-are-different-than/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“Knowing, above all, that I would come looking, and find what he had left for me, all that remained of The Jungle Book in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/knowing-above-all-that-i-would-come-looking-and-find-what-he-had-left/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [My mother always says that fear and pain are immediate, and that, when they're gone we're left with the concept, but not the true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/my-mother-always-says-that-fear-and-pain-are-immediate-and-that-when/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“But children die how they have been living-with hope. They don't what is happening, so they expect nothing, they don't ask you to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/but-children-die-how-they-have-been-living-with-hope-they-don-t-what/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [When I was eight years old, I wrote a paragraph-long short story about a goat on my mother's hundred-pound, black-and-white-screen laptop. The story came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/when-i-was-eight-years-old-i-wrote-a-paragraph-long-short-story-about/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) [Explore all 60 Téa Obreht quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure stories. This was before I’d read Isak Dinesen and Mikhail Bulgakov, before Ernest Hemingway and T. Coraghessan Boyle, before I’d read something and really felt it, when writing was still just a compulsion, and my teen-age brain was only bordering on sentience. I filled pages of white space with swashbuckling, rapier-wielding, sidekick-sacrificing, dragon-baiting romance. 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