Quote

First thoughts have tremendous energy. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash.

Natalie Goldberg

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Natalie Goldberg
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: January 4
Author
Novelist
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Live
Direct
Realms
Firsts
Usually
Tremendous
First
Thoughts
Twice
Censor
Second
Fresh
Removed
Times
Connection
Internals
Energy
Third
Realm
Three
Thirds
Internal
Thought
Connections
Flash

More quotes by Natalie Goldberg

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We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us.
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You don't know what you're doing. You're just hoping that people won't make fun of you. I had no idea how it would turn out.
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The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer. Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness on the table, revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners.
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Poems are taught as though the poet has put a secret key in his words and it is the reader's job to find it. Poems are not mystery novels.
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I had cancer for fourteen months and wrote a memoir about the experience.
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I don't think everyone wants to create the great American novel, but we all have a dream of telling our stories-of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die. Writing is a path to meet ourselves and become intimate.
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Watch yourself. Every minute we change. It is a great opportunity. At any point, we can step out of our frozen selves and our ideas and begin fresh.
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Don't let yourself be thrown away....Continue on no matter what....Continue to make a positive effort for the good.
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I often wonder if all the writers who are alcoholics drink a lot because they aren't writing. It is not because they are writers that they are drinking, but because they are writers who are not writing.
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So writing is not just writing. It is also having a relationship with other writers. And don't be jealous, especially secretly. That's the worst kind. If someone writes something great, it's just more clarity in the world for all of us.
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It is simply that person's time. Ours will come in this lifetime or the next. No matter. Continue to practice.
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I honor English majors. It's a dumb thing to major in. It leads nowhere. It's good to be dumb, it allows us to love something for no reason. That's the best kind of love.
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Oh, my passion! That is what finally carried me through. Let passion burn all the way, heating up every layer of the psyche.
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I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how writing is a practice and how my teaching is part of that practice. I direct the writing and create books but underneath, there's always the river of practice happening. No good, no bad. Just do it.
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In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished by how few people -- people who supposedly want to write -- read books, and if they read them, how little they examine them.
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This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don't wait.
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When I wrote and got out of the way, writing did writing.” (p.90)
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Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond.
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Shut up and write. Don't talk about writing, just physically do it.
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Play around. Dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure.
Natalie Goldberg