--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is winter. Ravens are standing on a…" description: "\"“It is winter. Ravens are standing on a pile of bones -- black typeface on white paper picking an idea clean. It’s what I do each time I sit down to wr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/terry-tempest-williams-835_white-paper_it-is-winter-ravens-are-standing-on-a-pi_3191970.jpg" --- # It is winter. Ravens are standing on a pile of bones… ![“It is winter. Ravens are standing on a pile of bones -- black typeface on white paper picking an idea clean. It’s what I do each time I sit down to write. What else are we to do with our obsessions? Do they feed us? Or are we simply scavenging our memories for one gleaming image to tell the truth…” quote by Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/terry-tempest-williams-835_white-paper_it-is-winter-ravens-are-standing-on-a-pi_3191970.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/terry-tempest-williams-835_white-paper_it-is-winter-ravens-are-standing-on-a-pi_3191970.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/terry-tempest-williams-835_white-paper_it-is-winter-ravens-are-standing-on-a-pi_3191970.jpg) > ““It is winter. Ravens are standing on a pile of bones -- black typeface on white paper picking an idea clean. It’s what I do each time I sit down to write. What else are we to do with our obsessions? Do they feed us? Or are we simply scavenging our memories for one gleaming image to tell the truth of what is hunting us? 'To write,' Marguerite Duras remarked, 'is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly.”” [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage uses winter imagery and ravens to explore how obsessions drive creative writing, suggesting silence and how as forms of expression. **In simple terms:** Obsessions fuel writing; silence can be expressive. Key Takeaway Channel obsessions into art. Themes creativity obsession silence Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - art therapy - personal journaling Key Concepts metaphor literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - What does silence reveal in your work? - How to balance obsession and well‑being? 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