--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The habits of a lifetime when everything…" description: "\"The habits of a lifetime when everything else had to come before writing are not easily broken, even when circumstances now often make it possible for ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/tillie-olsen-18007_accumulation_the-habits-of-a-lifetime-when-everything_2551831.png" --- # The habits of a lifetime when everything else had to come… ![“The habits of a lifetime when everything else had to come before writing are not easily broken, even when circumstances now often make it possible for writing to be first; habits of years - responses to others, distractibility, responsibility for daily matters - stay with you, mark you, become…” quote by Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/tillie-olsen-18007_accumulation_the-habits-of-a-lifetime-when-everything_2551831.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/tillie-olsen-18007_accumulation_the-habits-of-a-lifetime-when-everything_2551831.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/tillie-olsen-18007_accumulation_the-habits-of-a-lifetime-when-everything_2551831.png) > “The habits of a lifetime when everything else had to come before writing are not easily broken, even when circumstances now often make it possible for writing to be first; habits of years - responses to others, distractibility, responsibility for daily matters - stay with you, mark you, become you. The cost of discontinuity (that pattern still imposed on women) is such a weight of things unsaid, an accumulation of material so great, that everything starts up something else in me; what should take weeks take me sometimes months to write; what should take months, takes years.” [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Long‑standing habits shape our priorities and can persist even when circumstances change, making it hard to reorder priorities and **In simple terms:** Habits persist despite new possibilities Key Takeaway Recognize and consciously reshape entrenched habits Themes habit formation gender writing identity Mood reflective determined Type advice personal development When to use this quote - academic writing - daily routines - creative projects - career transitions Key Concepts Neuroplasticity social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - What habits are you ready to reorder? - How can you create space for new priorities? A Different Perspective Changing deep habits often requires sustained effort and support ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Discontinuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontinuity/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Weight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weight/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot, in a moment, get rid of habits of a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-cannot-in-a-moment-get-rid-of-habits-of-a-lifetime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If parents could just get their children moving around in the most simple and fun ways - jumping in leaves, dancing to pop music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magnus-scheving/if-parents-could-just-get-their-children-moving-around-in-the-most/) [Magnus Scheving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magnus-scheving/) > [As we learn to speak from the heart we are changing the habits of a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/as-we-learn-to-speak-from-the-heart-we-are-changing-the-habits-of-a/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [“Analysis is about re-parenting yourself and relearning the habits of a lifetime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-galloway/analysis-is-about-re-parenting-yourself-and-relearning-the-habits-of/) Stephen Galloway > [I'm a full-time believer in writing habits...You may be able to do without them if you have genius but most of us only have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-m-a-full-time-believer-in-writing-habits-you-may-be-able-to-do/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I write like anyone involved with a family and a full time job: in stolen moments. I've had to adapt because I have so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-singh/i-write-like-anyone-involved-with-a-family-and-a-full-time-job-in/) [Vandana Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-singh/) > [My writing habits are pretty static. I get up every morning between 6 and 7 am, grab a cup of coffee, say a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/my-writing-habits-are-pretty-static-i-get-up-every-morning-between-6/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [I don't know if I have writing habits. Writing is impossible and every time I have to do it I kind of forget how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-bob-waksberg/i-don-t-know-if-i-have-writing-habits-writing-is-impossible-and-every/) [Raphael Bob-Waksberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-bob-waksberg/) > [“Perfectionism is the enemy of the author. There is a difference between good writing habits and perfectionism. The author who displays good writing habits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gudjon-bergmann/perfectionism-is-the-enemy-of-the-author-there-is-a-difference/) [Gudjon Bergmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gudjon-bergmann/) > [I set goals for myself every three months. I write them down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payal-kadakia/i-set-goals-for-myself-every-three-months-i-write-them-down/) [Payal Kadakia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payal-kadakia/) > [It took us nine months to write 'The East'; we didn't start writing it on the computer until seven and a half months into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zal-batmanglij/it-took-us-nine-months-to-write-the-east-we-didn-t-start-writing-it/) [Zal Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zal-batmanglij/) > [I love writing, and I am never as happy as when I have a week, a month - three months - with nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/i-love-writing-and-i-am-never-as-happy-as-when-i-have-a-week-a-month/) [Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/) > [Books are like your children. They take nine months to write; the manuscript weighs six pounds and...you send them out into the world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-buchanan/books-are-like-your-children-they-take-nine-months-to-write-the/) [Edna Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-buchanan/) > [It can take me many months to write one of my own songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-gauthier/it-can-take-me-many-months-to-write-one-of-my-own-songs/) [Mary Gauthier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-gauthier/) > [It took me nine months to write 60 pages. It was very frustrating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/it-took-me-nine-months-to-write-60-pages-it-was-very-frustrating/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) ## More by Tillie Olsen > [More than in any other human relationship, overwhelmingly more, motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, and responsible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/more-than-in-any-other-human-relationship-overwhelmingly-more/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [“Mazie sits with a sense of non-being over her – of it being someone other than she sitting there timeless, suspended in a dusky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/mazie-sits-with-a-sense-of-non-being-over-her-of-it-being-someone/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [I don't want to die leaving the world as it is right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/i-don-t-want-to-die-leaving-the-world-as-it-is-right-now/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/literary-history-and-the-present-are-dark-with-silences-i-have-had/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [She would not exchange her solitude for anything. Never again to be forced to move to the rhythms of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/she-would-not-exchange-her-solitude-for-anything-never-again-to-be/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Not to have an audience is a kind of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/not-to-have-an-audience-is-a-kind-of-death/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [That's what I want to be when I grow up, just a peaceful wreck holding hands with other peaceful wrecks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/that-s-what-i-want-to-be-when-i-grow-up-just-a-peaceful-wreck-holding/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [“She kept too much in herself. Her life was such that she had to keep too much in herself. My wisdom came too late.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/she-kept-too-much-in-herself-her-life-was-such-that-she-had-to-keep/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Think about all that we've lost that has been said orally because nobody was taking it down. I feel very fortunate to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/think-about-all-that-we-ve-lost-that-has-been-said-orally-because/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [There are worse words than cuss-words, there are words that hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/there-are-worse-words-than-cuss-words-there-are-words-that-hurt/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Literature is a place for generosity and affection and hunger for equals - not a prizefight ring. We are increased, confirmed in our medium,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/literature-is-a-place-for-generosity-and-affection-and-hunger-for/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Better mankind born without mouths and stomachs than always to worry about money to buy, to shop, to fix, to cook, to wash, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/better-mankind-born-without-mouths-and-stomachs-than-always-to-worry/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Writers in a profit making economy are an exploitable commodity whose works are products to be marketed, and are so judged and handled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/writers-in-a-profit-making-economy-are-an-exploitable-commodity-whose/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [I know that I haven’t powers enough to divide myself into one who earns and one who creates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/i-know-that-i-haven-t-powers-enough-to-divide-myself-into-one-who/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [Every woman who writes is a survivor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/every-woman-who-writes-is-a-survivor/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) [Explore all 36 Tillie Olsen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) ## More Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The habits of a lifetime when everything else had to come before writing are not easily broken, even when circumstances now often make it possible for writing to be first; habits of years - responses to others, distractibility, responsibility for daily matters - stay with you, mark you, become you. 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