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Brenda Ueland

Brenda Ueland Quotes

Journalist

Brenda Ueland was an American journalist and writer, born on October 24, 1891, and died on March 5, 1985. She is known for her unique writing style and profound insights into writing, particularly for her book 'How to Write'.

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Famous Brenda Ueland Quotes

“In fact that is why the lives of most women are so vaguely unsatisfactory. They are always doing secondary and menial things (that do not require all their gifts and ability) for others and never anything for themselves. Society and husbands praise them for it (when they get too miserable or have nervous breakdowns) though always a little perplexedly and half-heartedly and just to be consoling. The poor wives are reminded that that is just why wives are so splendid -- because they are so unselfish and self-sacrificing and that is the wonderful thing about them! But inwardly women know that something is wrong. They sense that if you are always doing something for others, like a servant or nurse, and never anything for yourself, you cannot do others any good. You make them physically more comfortable. But you cannot affect them spiritually in any way at all. For to teach, encourage, cheer up, console, amuse, stimulate or advise a husband or children or friends, you have to be something yourself. [...]"If you would shut your door against the children for an hour a day and say; 'Mother is working on her five-act tragedy in blank verse!' you would be surprised how they would respect you. They would probably all become playwrights.”

Writing Humor Inspiration Self Care

Author:Brenda Ueland

“In the same way there is much, much in all of us, but we do not know it. No one ever calls it out in us, unless we are lucky enough to know intelligent, imaginative, sympathetic people who love us and have the magnanimity to encourage us, to believe in us, by listening, by praise, by appreciation, by laughing. If you are going to write, you must become aware of this richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there so that you can write opulently with with self-trust. Once you become aware of it, have faith in it, you will be all right. But it is like this: if you have a million dollars in the bank and don't know, it doesn't so you any good.”

Writing Art Inspiration

Author:Brenda Ueland

“Yes, I hate orthodox criticism. I don't mean great criticism, like that of Matthew Arnold and others, but the usual small niggling, fussy-mussy criticism, which thinks it can improve people by telling them where they are wrong, and results only in putting them in straitjackets of hesitancy and self-consciousness, and weazening all vision and bravery. ...I hate it because of all the potentially shining, gentle, gifted people of all ages, that it snuffs out every year. It is a murderer of talent. And because the most modest and sensitive people are the most talented, having the most imagination and sympathy, these are the very first ones to get killed off. It is the brutal egotists that survive.”

Writing Criticism Sensitivity Literary Criticism

Book:If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

Source: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

“Think of yourself as an incandescent power, illuminated and perhaps forever talked to by God and his messengers.”

Inspirational Writing

Author:Brenda Ueland

“...the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or Yonder but to discover truth and beauty and express it, i.e., share it with others?”

Writing Truth Beauty

Book:If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

Source: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

“By encouraging the critic in themselves (the hater) they have killed the artist (the lover).”

Love Writing Art Hate Criticism Critics Inspiring Quotes Lover Artists Hater Brenda Ueland If You Want To Write

Book:If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

Source: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

“If you write, good ideas must come welling up into you so that you have something to write. If good ideas do not come at once, or for a long time, do not be troubled at all. Wait for them. Put down little ideas no matter how insignificant they are. But do not feel, any more, guilty about idleness and solitude.”

Ifs Feels Writing Littles Long Ideas Matter Waiting Solitude Long Time Guilty Good Ideas Insignificant Idleness

Author:Brenda Ueland

“everyone who is human has something to express. Try not expressing yourself for twenty-four hours and see what happens. You will nearly burst. You will want to write a long letter, or draw a picture, or sing, or make a dress or a garden.”

Want Writing Trying Humans Long Happens Humanity Hours Four Communication Draws Garden Letters Twenties Dresses Express Yourself

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“the only way to become a better writer is to become a better person.”

Way Writing Persons Better Person

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“So remember these two things: you are talented and you are original. Be sure of that. I say this because self-trust is one of the very most important things in writing.”

Writing Two Important Self Remember Originals Important Things Two Things Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Now some people when they sit down to write and nothing special comes, no good ideas, are so frightened that they drink a lot of strong coffee to hurry them up, or smoke packages of cigarettes, or take drugs or get drunk. They do not know that ideas come slowly, and that the more clear, tranquil and unstimulated you are, the slower the ideas come, but the better they are.”

People Knows Writing Ideas Strong Clear Special Drink Drug Coffee Drunk Smoke Frightened Good Ideas Cigarette Packages Tranquil

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“You must become aware of the richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there, so that you can write opulently and with self-trust. If you once become aware of it and have faith in it, you will be all right.”

Ifs Knows Writing Believe Self Have Faith Richness Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“You can write anything you want to,--a six-act blank verse, symbolic tragedy or a vulgar short, short story. Just so that you write it with honesty and gusto, and do not try to make somebody believe that you are smarter than you are. What's the use? You can never be smarter than you are.”

Want Writing Trying Believe Stories Use Honesty Six Tragedy Short Story Verses Blank Smarter Vulgar Symbolic Gusto

Author:Brenda Ueland

“Self-trust is so important. When you launch on a story, make your neck loose, feel free, good-natured. And be lazy. Feel that you are going to throw it away. Try writing utterly unplanned stories and see what comes out.”

Feels Writing Trying Important Self Stories Necks Lazy Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“You have to hold your audience in writing to the very end-much more than in talking, when people have to be polite and listen to you.”

People Writing Ends Talking Audience Polite

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.”

Ifs Writing Art Stills Certain Creativity Cents

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like child stringing beads in kindergarten, - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.”

Feels Should Writing Children Joy Lord Creativity Mountain Kindergarten Beads Mountain Top Byron

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“We have come to think that duty should come first. I disagree. Duty should be a by-product. Writing, the creative effort, the use of the imagination, should come first – at least, for some part of every day of your life. It is a wonderful blessing if you use it. You will become happier, more enlightened, alive, impassioned, light-hearted and generous to everybody else. Even your health will improve. Colds will disappear and all the other ailments of discouragement and boredom.”

Source: If You Want to Write

“No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good.”

Writing Done Feelings Imagination Creative Waste Sentences Wasting Time Creative Work

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“The only way to write well, so that people believe what we say and are interested or touched by it, is to slough off all pretentiousness and attitudinizing.”

People Way Writing Believe Wells Touched Pretentiousness Slough

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose attitude is: "Tell me more. Tell me all you can. I want to understand more about everything you feel and know and all the changes inside and out of you. Let more come out." And if you have no such friend,--and you want to write,--well, then you must imagine one.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Want Feels Writing Wells Important Interesting Attitude Teacher Imagine Love You Good Teacher

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“...at last I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had.”

People Writing Feelings Lasts Share Understood Impulse

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“...writing is not a performance but a generosity.”

Writing Performances Generosity

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“I found that many gifted people are so afraid of writing a poor story that they cannot summon the nerve to write a single sentence for months. The thing to say to such people is: "See how *bad* a story you can write. See how dull you can be. Go ahead. That would be fun and interesting. I will give you ten dollars if you can write something thoroughly dull from beginning to end!" And of course, no one can.”

People Ifs Giving Writing Ends Stories Would Be Courses Found Fun Interesting Poor Months Ten Dollars Sentences Dull Nerves Gifted Single Sentence

Author:Brenda Ueland

“Advertising companies hire the very brightest, wittiest young people to write for them. Not one single sentence of it is worth repeating. Why? Because it wasn't meant.”

People Writing Young Company Sentences Advertising Single Sentence Wittiest

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“I want to write about the great and powerful thing that listening is. And how we forget it. And how we don't listen to our children, or those we love. And least of all - which is so important, too - to those we do not love. But we should. Because listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.”

Want Should Writing Children Important Ideas Force Grows Forget Powerful Creative Strange Listening Our Children Forget It Strange Things Magnetic Those We Love

Author:Brenda Ueland

“If you are never satisfied with what you write, that is a good sign. It means that your vision can see so far that it's hard to come up to it. Again I say - the only unfortunate people are the glib ones, immediately satisfied with their work. To them, the ocean is only knee-deep.”

People Ifs Writing Mean Hard Vision Ocean Come Up Satisfied Knees Unfortunate

Author:Brenda Ueland

“The true self is always in motion like music, a river of life, changing, moving, failing, suffering, learning, shining. That is why you must freely and recklessly make new mistakes - in writing or in life - and do not fret about them but pass on and write more.”

Writing Self Moving Suffering Mistake Failing Rivers Shining Life Changing True Self

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Writing is the action of thinking, just as drawing is the action of seeing and composing music is the action of hearing.”

Thinking Writing Action Seeing Music Is Hearing Drawing Composing Composing Music

Book:Me

Source: Me

“When we commit ourselves to writing for some part of each day, we are happier, more enlightened, alive, light-hearted and generous to everyone else. Even our health improves.”

Writing Light Alive Commit Generous Each Day Enlightened Hearted Light Hearted

Author:Brenda Ueland

“Write a true, careless, slovenly impulsive, honest diary every day of your life.”

Writing Honest Journal Diaries Careless Impulsive

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“If you write something and they all tell you it is bad - editors, critics, everybody - think it over and you may become convinced that they are right (though you are not to be ashamed or discouraged for a minute, but keep on writing).”

Ifs Thinking Writing May Minutes Critics Convinced Ashamed Editors Discouraged

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

About the Author

Born: October 24, 1891
Died: March 5, 1985
Known for: Journalist
Quotes: 113

Related Topics

Writing Thinking People Ifs Knows Listening Creative Self Trying Children Should Want Creativity Ideas Imagination Important Art Believe Feelings Littles

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

If You Want to WriteRelated source material

Strength to Your Sword Arm: Selected WritingsRelated source material

MeRelated source material

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and SpiritRelated source material

Me: A MemoirRelated source material

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