Artists are not cheerleaders, and we're not the heads of tourism boards. We expose and discuss what is problematic, what is contradictory, what is hurtful and what is silenced in the culture we're in.
Junot DiazRead
I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down. As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the struggle of retaining creative ideas and the importance of documenting them.
Junot Diaz expresses a common challenge faced by many creative individuals: the fleeting nature of ideas and the difficulty in capturing them before they fade away. He acknowledges that his poor memory and reluctance to take notes contribute to the loss of valuable insights, highlighting the paradox that writing down thoughts can sometimes lead to mental resistance against them. This insight stresses the importance of finding ways to preserve one's creativity to avoid letting potentially great ideas slip away.
Themes
IdeasMemoryWritingCreativityDocumentation
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, when discussing brainstorming techniques.
More from Junot Diaz
All quotes →Run a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.
Junot DiazRead
I can see myself watching him shave every morning. And at other time I see us in that house and see how one bright day (or a day like this, so cold your mind shifts every time the wind does) he will wake up and decide it's all wrong. I'm sorry, he'll say. I have to leave now.
Junot DiazRead
Migration gives a blank cheque to put anything you don't feel like addressing in the memory hold. No neighbours can go against the monster narrative of your family.
Junot DiazRead
We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves.
Junot DiazRead
When I read Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros as a freshman at Rutgers, it all clicked - that writing was all I wanted to do. It became my calling.
Junot DiazRead
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