“The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle.”
More from Joan Didion
“Remember what it is to be me. That is always the point.”
“The fear is not for what is lost. What is lost is already in the wall. The fear is for…”
“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.”
“We know that someone close to us will die. We might expect to feel shock. We do not expect…”