--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading lives is the primary activity…" description: "\"“Reading lives is the primary activity. Reading literature, although we engage in it more intentionally and more mindfully, is the secondary one. We ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffd/william-l-randall-287058_aging_reading-lives-is-the-primary-activity-re_2371024.jpg" --- # Reading lives is the primary activity. Reading literature… ![“Reading lives is the primary activity. Reading literature, although we engage in it more intentionally and more mindfully, is the secondary one. We are able to do the latter only insofar as we are already doing the former. As with narrative in general, then, reading our lives is not merely a…” quote by William L. Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffd/william-l-randall-287058_aging_reading-lives-is-the-primary-activity-re_2371024.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffd/william-l-randall-287058_aging_reading-lives-is-the-primary-activity-re_2371024.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffd/william-l-randall-287058_aging_reading-lives-is-the-primary-activity-re_2371024.jpg) > ““Reading lives is the primary activity. Reading literature, although we engage in it more intentionally and more mindfully, is the secondary one. We are able to do the latter only insofar as we are already doing the former. As with narrative in general, then, reading our lives is not merely a metaphor for how we make sense of our lives. It is how we make sense of our lives.”” William L. Randall ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading one's own life is primary; it informs how we interpret experiences, while literature is secondary, enhancing that self‑understanding. **In simple terms:** Read life first; literature second. Key Takeaway Prioritize self‑reflection. Themes self‑knowledge literature narrative mindfulness Mood reflective educational Type Aging:0 Books:1 Literature:1 Narrative:1 Reading literature:0 Storytelling:0 Writer:0 Activity Reading:0 Reading Lives:1 When to use this quote - journaling - book clubs - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology storytelling philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does your life story shape you? - What narratives guide you? A Different Perspective Over‑emphasis on literature may distract from lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Reading literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-literature/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [For my whole life, my favorite activity was reading. It's not the most social pastime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/for-my-whole-life-my-favorite-activity-was-reading-it-s-not-the-most/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [“Concentration is another name for what we have called activity in reading. The good reader reads actively, with concentration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-j-adler/concentration-is-another-name-for-what-we-have-called-activity-in/) [Mortimer J. Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-j-adler/) > [“So I recommend reading literature, such as the inspiring biography of Anwar Sadat, In Search of Identity, and seeing movies like Chariots of Fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/so-i-recommend-reading-literature-such-as-the-inspiring-biography-of/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [I started reading literature at 17 or 18, and I felt this extra beat to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-started-reading-literature-at-17-or-18-and-i-felt-this-extra-beat/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [You become a reader by reading the literature, not by reading the handbooks about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-chambers/you-become-a-reader-by-reading-the-literature-not-by-reading-the/) [Aidan Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-chambers/) > [Because most of the girls were still in mourning and all of them had lost their textbooks, even pencils and pens, Shaukat Ali began…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mortenson/because-most-of-the-girls-were-still-in-mourning-and-all-of-them-had/) [Greg Mortenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mortenson/) > [“I look around and see that many — not all, but many — problems we've got could be solved if our culture simply fostered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camilo-gomes-jr/i-look-around-and-see-that-many-not-all-but-many-problems-we-ve-got/) [Camilo Gomes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camilo-gomes-jr/) > [ I wasn't reading it \[the Bible\] as literature. I was reading it as literature, and as history, and as a moral guide, and as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-plotz/i-wasn-t-reading-it-the-bible-as-literature-i-was-reading-it-as/) [David Plotz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-plotz/) > [I had many moments of disappointment, despondency, and exhaustion, but I always found that by reading the literature and showing up at my lab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-had-many-moments-of-disappointment-despondency-and-exhaustion-but-i/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [“Reading literature makes us better people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-murphy-paul/reading-literature-makes-us-better-people/) [Annie Murphy Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-murphy-paul/) > [“Their management and regulation of our lives spans the total spectrum of American experience, from their obtuse Imperial Measurement System, to their irregularity-strangled English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoltan-istvan/their-management-and-regulation-of-our-lives-spans-the-total-spectrum/) [Zoltan Istvan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoltan-istvan/) > [“You always know more than you think you know without being aware of it. You always remember best what has hurt most. Memory is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-walser/you-always-know-more-than-you-think-you-know-without-being-aware-of/) [Martin Walser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-walser/) > [My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel: not travel like a tourist, but travel as exploration. The second is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/my-writing-is-a-combination-of-three-elements-the-first-is-travel-not/) [Ryszard Kapuscinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [Literary texts do not exist on bookshelves: they are processes of signification materialized only in the practice of reading. For literature to happen, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literary-texts-do-not-exist-on-bookshelves-they-are-processes-of/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Reading literature remains a civilising activity, no matter that it's literature in which people do and say abominable things and the author curses like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/reading-literature-remains-a-civilising-activity-no-matter-that-it-s/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. 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Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reading lives is the primary activity. 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