Quotes about Memoirs

Memoirs are the backstairs of history. Votes: 4

Memoirs are a well-known form of fiction. Votes: 4

Memoirs of a Geisha' is everything you'd expect it to be: beautiful, mesmerizing, tasteful, Japanese. It's just not very hot. Votes: 4

When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs. Votes: 4

I have been presented with roles with demand not just a physical ability but mental disciplines as well. 'Memoirs of a Geisha' was not so much about physical exertion... it was much more graceful and contained than that. Votes: 4

The reader of these Memoirs will discover that I never had any fixed aim before my eyes, and that my system, if it can be called a system, has been to glide away unconcernedly on the stream of life, trusting to the wind wherever it led. Votes: 4

The man is always the last to know when Cupid has struck him -Anonymous, Memoirs of a Mistress Votes: 3

autobiography at least saves a man or woman that the world is curious about from the publication of a string of mistakes called 'Memoirs. Votes: 3

When I became a feminist, when the movement started in the late sixties, I started writing because I had something urgent to say. My first novel, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, is the product of that urgency. Votes: 3

Memoirs give the knowledge about the author and his environment. They are different from biography. Memoirs do not get ahead, and the man who writes a biography looks at his future like at a very simple thing. Votes: 3

[Mark] Twain was a publisher. He published General Grant's Memoirs (a big success) and had a hand in the publishing of many of his own books. He would, I think, be very keen about the question of how a book would sell. Votes: 3

A third volume of Memoirs is really a bold undertaking ... I cannot, like a certain female writer, say, I hope if I have done nothing to please, I have done nothing to offend; for truly I mean to give both pleasure and offense ... Votes: 3

As far as being territorial about one's own life, that's a mistake for ANY writer. All writers everywhere, in every genre, are drawing from their life and the lives of those around them for "material." Memoirs just make transparent and even amplify that activity. Votes: 3

Memoirs have at their heart a content that "happened" to someone in real life. Is that what you are itching at in your question, so that if you are a reviewer or you are writing a critique you might feel as if you are stepping on someone's actual face? Votes: 3

I love memoirs and autobiographies in general. Votes: 2

People write memoirs because they lack the imagination to make things up. Votes: 2

Listen, in England people are already writing their memoirs at the age of 23. Votes: 2

Anyone who believes you can't change history has never tried to write his memoirs. Votes: 2

People can lie in letters, but they tend not to. They certainly lie in memoirs. Votes: 2

I have 60 years of reading to draw upon: naval memoirs, dispatches, the Naval Chronicles, family letters. Votes: 2

I've given my memoirs far more thought than any of my marriages. You can't divorce a book. Votes: 2

A lot of presidential memoirs, they say, are dull and self-serving. I hope mine is interesting and self-serving. Votes: 2

In the writing of memoirs, as in the production of shows, too much caution causes the audience to nod and think of other channels. Votes: 2

I think most memoirs, though they purport to be about this particular time or this person you met, are really about the effect that person or time had on you. Votes: 2

You might think that religion was the one area in which professional jealousy would take a back seat. But no: ecclesiastical memoirs are as viperish as any, though their envy tends to cloak itself in piety. Votes: 2

I love all insider memoirs. It doesn't matter whether it's truck-drivers or doctors. I think everybody likes to go backstage, find out what people think and what they talk about and what specialised job they have. Votes: 2

I have always distrusted memoir. I tend to write my memoirs through my fiction. It's easier to get to the truth by not claiming that you are speaking it. Some things can be said in fiction that can never be said in memoir. Votes: 2

My memoirs were written, and a portion of them already in the hands of the publishers, when the startling news came which has thrilled all Europe and filled her inhabitants with horror - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. Votes: 2

Someone asked me if I was afraid to write my memoirs. I told him: 'We have to stop drawing up accounts of fear! We live in a society in which people are allowed to tell their story, and that is what I do.' Votes: 2

At its best, fiction cultivates fantasy and compassion; at its worst, memoir provokes schadenfreude and prurience. The ugly truth, I fear, is that many people are drawn to sensational memoirs for the same reason they watch 'The Apprentice': they like to witness actual suffering, before-your-very-eyes humiliation. Votes: 2

What are you going to do with astronauts who first reach the surface of Mars and then turn around and rocket back home-ward? What are they going to do, write their memoirs? Would they go again? Having them repeat the voyage, in my view, is dim-witted. Why don't they stay there on Mars? Votes: 2

The memoir industry is, what's the word? Under regulated. I think it needs to be pruned. If there are too many books right now and the market for readers is shrinking, I think we can get rid of many of the memoirs. Another memoir should be awfully well justified before it gets published. Votes: 2

How much energy is wasted in Italy in trying to write the novel that obeys all the rules. The energy might have been useful to provide us with more modest, more genuine things, that had less pretensions: short stories, memoirs, notes, testimonials, or at any rate, books that are open, without a preconceived plan. Votes: 2

Men's memoirs are about answers; women's memoirs are about questions. Most male authors want to look good in their memoirs and have a place in posterity, while most women know that posterity is what happens when you no longer care. Women want to connect with others here and now; they couldn't care less about legacy! Votes: 2

I will leave no memoirs. Votes: 0

I've written three books you could think of as memoirs. Votes: 0

I'm not about to write my memoirs. Not for a long time. Votes: 0

I live my memoirs, I don’t have to write them down. Votes: 0

But who has time to write memoirs? I'm still living my memoirs. Votes: 0

It's easy to write one's memoirs when one has a terrible memory. Votes: 0

Death, death. Now I won't be able to write my beautiful memoirs. Votes: 0

No innocent man buys a gun, and no happy man writes his memoirs. Votes: 0

I'm frequently asked why I don't write my memoirs. I think I have. Votes: 0

The Canadian version of Julius Caesar's memoirs? I came, I saw, I coped. Votes: 0

History is written by the victors, but it's victims who write the memoirs. Votes: 0

There ain't nothing that breaks up homes, country and nations like somebody publishing their memoirs Votes: 0

Published memoirs indicate the end of a man's activity, and that he acknowledges the end. Votes: 0

I haven't written my memoirs or let the television movie be made about my life. Votes: 0

The memoirs of call girls are much in demand these days - a millennial craze. Votes: 0

Stalin didn't write any memoirs. He was too secretive. He was afraid people might read them. Votes: 0

Someday," Magnus said, looking at the crumpled royal person at his feet, "I must write my memoirs. Votes: 0

I do think that memoirs by women are reviewed differently and considered somewhat outside of the canon. Votes: 0

Moments fly, memories remain; and then memories fly, only memoirs remain and finally memoirs disappear, nothing remains! Votes: 0

My memoirs are full of humor, I had to change jokes because it was a little too dark. Votes: 0

I could never write my memoirs, just because too many people are still alive and would be hurt. Votes: 0

Let no family go into eternity without having left their memoirs for their children, their grandchildren, and their posterity. Votes: 0

I'm very detail oriented. I think that's why people enjoy my memoirs - because I tend to remember everything. Votes: 0

My only fantasy about writing was that in my old days, after directing many masterpieces, I would write my memoirs. Votes: 0

Whatever shall we do in that remote spot? Well, we will write our memoirs. Work is the scythe of time. Votes: 0

The wisdom of hindsight, so useful to historians and indeed to authors of memoirs, is sadly denied to practicing politicians. Votes: 0

As to why people like Joseph Lelyveld are writing memoirs, I think they're just catching on the coattails of the trend. Votes: 0

I had read too many memoirs that were written after the writer or the director was past his or her prime. Votes: 0

Through therapy and a lot of thinking and writing my memoirs, I've been able to use my life as a lesson. Votes: 0

I've read my grandmother's memoirs and she served as a nurse during World War II. What they had to do was incredible. Votes: 0

I was too busy doing my job and living my life to spend time keeping notes for some future volume of memoirs. Votes: 0

I sold my memoirs of my love life to Parker Brothers and they are going to make a game out of it. Votes: 0

Gelsey Kirkland has had more than her share of demons, as her two distressing memoirs - and her violently checkered career - attest. Votes: 0

I don't know if memoirs can produce literary work of the first order. But I do know that novels are doing it only rarely. Votes: 0

The desire for narration keeps on reasserting itself, so that since modernism and fiction brought narration to an end, it is sought in memoirs. Votes: 0

I dislike modern memoirs. They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering. Votes: 0

I think people dismiss celebrity memoirs as unreal, contrived and maybe partially made up. But that's definitely not true for anything that I write. Votes: 0

I get about five memoirs per week in my mailbox, and few of them inspire anything but a desire to pick up the channel changer. Votes: 0

One of the things I learned about writing a memoir is you can’t drag the reader through everything. Every human life is worth 20 memoirs. Votes: 0

I do not repeat conversations that I can't remember. And it's something that irritates me a great deal, because I think most memoirs are false novels. Votes: 0

The memoirs that have come out of Africa are sometimes startlingly beautiful, often urgent, and essentially life-affirming, but they are all performances of courage and honesty. Votes: 0

Ultimately, whether we are writing posts, paragraphs, essays, arguments, memoirs, monographs or even just the Great American Tweet, writing is and should be a grand adventure. Votes: 0

I started reading the big histories and the small histories, the memoirs and so forth. At some point, I found the diary of William E. Dodd. Votes: 0

Undertones of War' by Edmund Blunden seems to get less attention than the memoirs of Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, but it is a great book. Votes: 0

When Goldie Hawn wrote her memoirs, no one said Goldie Hawn was snitching. When Jane Fonda wrote her memoirs, no one said Jane Fonda was snitching. Votes: 0

The memoirs I love are all very intense. If you're going to do a memoir and protect yourself, what the hell's the point? Just do fiction. Votes: 0

We are all looking for something of extraordinary importance whose nature we have forgotten; I am writing the memoirs of a man who has lost his memory. Votes: 0

On resigning as collaborator on the memoirs of the former Wallis Warfield Simpson, new summaries, 6 October 1955. You can't make the Duchess of Windsor into Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Votes: 0

One of my big inspirations was Céleste Mogador. She was a courtesan who wrote her memoirs in order to pay off her debts, which is a hilarious gesture. Votes: 0

To be honest, I don't know. I started one [book] back in 1982 or '83 when I first retired. But I was only 25 or 26 and not ready to write my memoirs. Votes: 0

I rarely write in my own voice except in book reviews and memoirs; otherwise, I am writing in mediated voices, modulated in terms of the characters whom the voices express. Votes: 0

A lot of folks just get it in their head that, for instance, like writing memoirs is just easy. You just write down what happened. It doesn't quite work that way. Votes: 0

With my own memoirs, they are truthful, and I write everything fully expecting to some day end up televised on Court TV, and I'm fully prepared to be challenged legally on it. Votes: 0

I didn't find this memoir of these two eccentric people so different from doing my memoirs of De Sade or Simone Weil. My parents in their own way are as odd as Sade. Votes: 0

It is of great advantage to the student of any subject to read the original memoirs on that subject, for science is always most completely assimilated when it is in the nascent state. Votes: 0

Most memoirs about alcoholism, promiscuity, and addiction are deep, sobering tales full of scars that will never heal and include alarming statistics and reflection about recovery.This is not one of those memoirs. Votes: 0

We like to look out on the world and see ourselves, so we have many, many novels, memoirs, and short stories in Iraq that are largely about Americans in Iraq, doing what Americans do. Votes: 0

Many things embarrass me, but reading isnt one of them. Im not ashamed of my slightly weird collection of prison memoirs. Nor the flaky meditation books. After all, I can pretend I never read those. Votes: 0

If you read history, right, if you read [Mikhail] Gorbachev's memoirs, Gorbachev memoirs said the key thing in winning the Cold War was our insistence on nuclear defense, because they knew they couldn't match us. Votes: 0