To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed.
Joan DidionRead
The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing can be a more effective way to communicate one's emotions and thoughts than speaking.
In this quote, Joan Didion highlights the personal struggle of expressing oneself verbally, suggesting that the written word offers clarity and ease in conveying complex feelings and states of mind. This reflects a broader theme of the power of writing as a form of expression, allowing the author to articulate emotions that might be difficult to communicate in conversation.
Themes
TruthWritingExpressionCommunicationFeelings
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of personal expression, one might quote Didion to emphasize how writing plays a crucial role in understanding ourselves.
More from Joan Didion
All quotes βMemories are what you no longer want to remember.
Joan DidionRead
It was clear, for example, in 1988 that the political process had already become perilously remote from the electorate it was meant to represent.
Joan DidionRead
I mean maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?
Joan DidionRead
Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.
Joan DidionRead
Why do you always have to be right. Why do you always have to have the last word. For once in your life just let it go.
Joan DidionRead
Similar quotes
Color helps to express light, not the physical phenomenon, but the only light that really exists, that in the artist's brain.
Henri MatisseRead
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
People expect things from art that are horrible for us who make it! They put the things we make in these restrictive places called 'museums,' then don't want to hear another word from us.
Sigmar PolkeRead
Good actors I've worked with all started out making faces in a mirror, and you keep making faces all your life.
Bette DavisRead
Fat people are so rarely included in visual culture that fat is perceived as a blot on the landscape of sleek and slim.
Susie OrbachRead
My theory on genre is that while there are people out there who believe that genre tells people what to read, actually I believe that genre exists as a marketing tool to tell you what to avoid.
Neil GaimanRead