Quote

Oh, my passion! That is what finally carried me through. Let passion burn all the way, heating up every layer of the psyche.

Natalie Goldberg

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Natalie Goldberg
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: January 4
Author
Novelist
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Burn
Finally
Passion
Every
Heating
Way
Layer
Psyche
Layers
Carried

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I love and care about literature, and great writers are our teachers. You're studying their mind when you read their work.
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The difference between neurosis and wisdom is struggle.
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Even an ice cream parlor - a definite advantage - does not alleviate the sorrow I feel for a town lacking a bookstore.
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We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded.
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Women need space and silence. We too quickly give away our energy. There's something about holding that richness.
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Shut up and write anyway. Don't use anything as an excuse.
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Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond.
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The problem is we think we exist.
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When you write what you know, you stay in control. One of the first things I encourage my writing students to do is to lose control - say what they want to say, break structure.
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When you are present, the world is truly alive.
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To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.
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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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When you write, don't say, I'm going to write a poem. That attitude will freeze you right away. Sit down with the least expectation of yourself say, I am free to write the worst junk in the world.
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It is very important to go home if you want your work to be whole. You don't have to move in with your parents again and collect a weekly allowance, but you must claim where you come from and look deep into it. Come to honor and embrace it, or at the least, accept it.
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In the end, you have to just sit down, shut up, and write.
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Indefinite plans get dubious results.
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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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It is odd that we never question the feasibility of a football team practicing long hours for one game yet in writing we rarely give ourselves the space for practice.
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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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Learning to write is not a linear process. There is no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer. One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all. There are many truths. To do writing practice means to deal ultimately with your whole life.
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