Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone. Joan Didion More Quotes by Joan Didion More Quotes From Joan Didion We are the stories we tell ourselves Joan Didion stories People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues.... character--the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life--is the source from which self-respect springs. Joan Didion responsibilityspringcharacter Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing. Joan Didion sculptureresearchwriting I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be Joan Didion usedcouplepeople Anything worth having has its price. Joan Didion anything-worth-having I'm totally in control of this tiny, tiny world right there at the typewriter. Joan Didion tinytypewritersworld Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant. Joan Didion existentialismlife-changingordinary Self-respect is a question of recognizing that anything worth having has a price. Joan Didion anything-worth-havingrespectself Quite often you want to tell somebody your dream, your nightmare. Well, nobody wants to hear about someone else's dream, good or bad; nobody wants to walk around with it. The writer is always tricking the reader into listening to the dream. Joan Didion listeningdreamwant Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write. Joan Didion blessedmindwriting It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends. Joan Didion harderendseasy I lost the conviction that lights would always turn green for me, the pleasant certainty that those rather passive virtues which had won me approval as a child automatically guaranteed me not only Phi Beta Kappa keys but happiness, honor, and the love of a good man; lost a certain touching faith in the totem power of good manners, clean hair, and a proven competence on the Stanford-Binet scale. To such doubtful amulets had my self-respect been pinned, and I faced myself that day with the non-plused apprehension of someone who has come across a vampire and has no crucifix at hand. Joan Didion keysmenchildren What I want to tell you today is not to move into that world where you're alone with yourself and your mantra and your fitness program or whatever it is that you might use to try to control the world by closing it out. I want to tell you just to live in the mess. Throw yourself out into the convulsions of the world. I'm not telling you to make the world better, because I don't believe progress is necessarily part of the package. I'm telling you to live in it. Try and get it. Take chances, make your own work, take pride in it. Seize the moment. Joan Didion lifebelievemoving The writer is always tricking the reader into listening to their dream. Joan Didion readerlisteningdream You have to pick the places you don't walk away from. Joan Didion powerful-womenwalkscommitment Read, learn, work it up, go to the literature. Information is control. Joan Didion working-itinformationliterature In the early years, you fight because you don't understand each other. In the later years, you fight because you do. Joan Didion marriagewittyfunny We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it. Joan Didion ablechoicesfacts The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it Joan Didion inexplicablesharewriting Water is important to people who do not have it, and the same is true of control. Joan Didion importantwaterpeople
