I loved what I did. I remember cruel mothers who would pinch their children to make them cry in a scene, but my mother encircled me with affection.
Shirley TempleRead
Biographies of me have usually been compiled from old newspaper clips, untruthful publicity stories, and reminiscences of people who claim to have known me well.
Interpretation
Shirley Temple reflects on how biographies often misrepresent her life through unreliable sources.
In this quote, Shirley Temple critiques the way her life story has been constructed by others, emphasizing that many biographies are based on distorted information from newspapers, misleading anecdotes, and the perceptions of people who may not truly know her. This highlights the broader theme of how personal narratives can be shaped by external biases and the importance of seeking a more accurate and authentic representation of one's life.
In practice
This quote can serve as a reminder at a writing workshop on the importance of authentic storytelling.
I loved what I did. I remember cruel mothers who would pinch their children to make them cry in a scene, but my mother encircled me with affection.
Studio chief Winfield Sheehan wanted me to remain a little girl. If I lost my innocence, he said, it would show in my eyes.
I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet.
As long as we don't die, this is gonna be one hell of a story.
It was my life β like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was, to let it be.
If you see what you do each day as your way of loving the world and helping it heal, then life gets to be a lot different. The difference between burning up and burning out is the difference between loving what you are doing and not loving it.
Life, with all it's sorrows, cares, perplexities and heart-breaks, is more interesting than bovine placidity, hence more desirable. The more interesting it is, the happier it is.
I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It's like crying for your mother after she's gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball, and I knew I had to leave it.
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