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
Three
Thirds
Internal
Thought
Connections
Flash
Live
Direct
Realms
Firsts
Usually
Tremendous
First
Thoughts
Twice
Censor
Second
Fresh
Removed
Times
Connection
Internals
Energy
Third
Realm

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poems are small moments of enlightenment
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The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter the act of writing does.
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Shut up and write anyway. Don't use anything as an excuse.
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Every moment is enormous and it is all we have.
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We shouldn't forget that the universe moves with us, is at our back with everything we do.
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The harder you chase something, the faster you go and the less you're able to let life meet life. If you're having difficulty coming up with new ideas, then slow down.
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I have students that I tell, If your book doesn't sell or you can't publish it, write another book. Quit sitting around. The publishing world is a business, but it's not any big deal. An editor is not your guru. Your agent is not your guru.
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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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In writing practice, there's no direction. You enter your own mind and follow it where it takes you. We have a great need to connect with our own mind and our own true self. And all of us have a story to tell.
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Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.
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It’s much better to be a tribal writer, writing for all people and reflecting many voices through us, than to be a cloistered being trying to find one peanut of truth in our own individual mind. Become big and write with the whole world in your arms.
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Choose your tools carefully, but not so carefully that you get uptight or spend more time at the stationery store than at your writing table.
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Poetry has never been a favorite American pastime.
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The muscles of writing are not so visible, but they are just as powerful: determination, attention, curiosity, a passionate heart.
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I am free to write the worst junk in the world.
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Clarity and perseverance are difficult in American society because the basis of capitalism is greed and dissatisfaction.
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When you bring the darkness to the table, it doesn't rule you or hurt other people, but when we keep it secret, it's dangerous.
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[T]he one thing I want for you is to recognize when you are really singing in writing practice and honor that. Trust that. When you were screaming on the page. Maybe that doesn't make a whole book but that is the true seed.
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Writing can teach us the dignity of speaking the truth.
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Wherein we discover that many of the rules for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think.
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