Even more than we want good love for ourselves, we want it for our children, those vulnerable satellites of our hearts that we send, unsteady, into the world.
Mona SimpsonRead
Instead of a dedicated room, my best trigger is the actual habit of reading over the texts from the day before. Marking. Changing. Fussing. This ritual amounts to a habit of trust. Trust that I can make it better. That if I keep trying, I will come closer to something true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of reflection and trust in personal growth through continuous effort.
Mona Simpson highlights the value of revisiting past work as a means to improve and refine one's thoughts and ideas. This practice not only reinforces the habit of reflection but also nurtures trust in one’s ability to develop and approach the truth, suggesting that persistent effort and self-assessment lead to greater understanding and clarity.
Themes
ReflectionTrustHabitsImprovementGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club meeting to discuss the importance of revisiting texts for deeper understanding.
More from Mona Simpson
All quotes →Even as a feminist, my whole life I'd been waiting for a man to love who could love me. For decades, I'd thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man, and he was my brother.
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Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Keats buttoning up his clean white shirt to write in, after work.
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We come into the world whole, all of us, but we don't know that, don't know that life will be taking large chunks out of us, forever.
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