53 Meghan Daum Quotes for You to Enjoy

Meghan Daum

American Author

Born: 1970

About Me People Think Writing You

Related authors: F. Scott Fitzgerald Frederick Douglass Helen Keller Henry David Thoreau Joyce Meyer Mark Twain Og Mandino Zig Ziglar

Let's face it: every campus has its share of students who can't quite comprehend that extreme political correctness is often born of the same intolerance and anti-intellectualism as standard-issue bigotry. Meghan Daum

Political Face Every Extreme Intolerance Correctness Born Comprehend Students Share Political Correctness Campus Same Quite Often Who

Handwriting challenges aside, I love paper cards. I love the endless stewing involved in picking them out at the store. I love buying holiday stamps at the post office, and I love that 'whoosh' sound the cards make when I drop them into the mail slot. Meghan Daum

Love Challenges Post Drop Paper Out Post Office Slot Mail Picking Involved Make Sound Office Handwriting Endless Store Holiday Them Aside Stamps Cards Buying

We're not handed situations based on our established likes and dislikes; we get what's available. Meghan Daum

Our Likes Handed Get Situations Established Available Dislikes Based

I don't think anyone's ever accused me of too much self-love. Meghan Daum

Me Too Much Think Too Self-Love Accused Anyone Much Ever

I think whatever generation you're in has a nostalgia for the generations past and the generations you weren't in. Meghan Daum

You Generation Past Whatever Think Generations Were Nostalgia

I was enamored of New York City intellectual life and was really into Philip Roth because I was raised by self-loathing Midwesterners who were from southern Illinois, who felt like fish out of water when they came to the East Coast when I was a kid. Meghan Daum

Life Water Philip Kid East Out East Coast City New Like Because Felt Self-Loathing Enamored Came Fish Were Intellectual Intellectual Life Southern York New York New York City Really Coast Who Illinois Roth Raised

Self-righteousness, when you think about it, is a contra-indicator of self-esteem. It's what sets in when genuine righteousness eludes us. Meghan Daum

You Righteousness Think Sets Eludes About Self-Esteem Genuine Us

The point of essays is the point of writing anything. It's not to tell people what they already think or to give them more of what they already believe; it's to challenge people, and it's to suggest alternate ways of thinking about things. Meghan Daum

People Writing Challenge Believe Think Thinking Ways Tell About Give More Point Alternate Essays Anything Them Things Suggest

I always tell writers that it's good to have an area of expertise. It's a really practical answer, I know, but know about science or about sports or about medicine, so you can work as a science writer or a sports writer. Don't just know about yourself. Meghan Daum

Work Good You Sports Science Yourself Medicine Tell About Area Writer Writers Know Practical Answer Always Just Expertise Really

As with 'feminism,' not to mention 'liberalism' and 'conservatism,' 'political correctness' tends to mean what you want it to mean, which also pretty much amounts to utter meaninglessness. Meghan Daum

You Political Feminism Conservatism Liberalism Correctness Pretty Mention Tends Also Political Correctness Want Which Mean Much Utter Amount

We don't want privacy so much as privacy settings. Meghan Daum

Privacy Settings Want Much

I have bougainvillea and a magnolia tree outside my window. Not that anything will ever beat the view I had from my desk window in my little farmhouse in Nebraska. Just a dirt road stretching out as far as you could see, with prairie grass on either side. Meghan Daum

You Will Grass Tree Stretching Side Out See Window Dirt Could Beat Outside Had Road Prairie Just As Far As Anything Either Little Far View Ever Nebraska Desk

People who choose not to have kids do so because they respect the job of parenting so much that they know not to take it on if they know it's not something that they're up for, and I don't know what to be a bigger tribute to parenting than that. Meghan Daum

Parenting Respect People Job Kids Tribute Something Take Know Because Up Than Bigger Much Choose Who

I think people seem to want to read pieces that are shorter but not as short as the pieces they can read in small bites on the Internet. It may be that the sort of long essays are hitting a sweet spot between the tiny morsels online and the full-length book. Meghan Daum

I love the essay. It's my favorite genre to work in. Meghan Daum

Work Love Favorite Genre Essay

Our culture is so obsessed with the idea that you're going to go through a crisis or some difficult event and come out the other side a changed or improved person, and I just think that if you're honest, that often does not happen, and in fact, it shouldn't happen. Meghan Daum

You Culture Difficult Think Changed Other Side Our Crisis Out Some Fact Through Idea Obsessed Come Does Go Person Improved Going Often Just In Fact Happen Event Honest

There's this tradition of women's magazines - which have been my bread and butter as a freelancer - where the paradigm is that the writing is about relationships, body image, lessons, and it's always redemptive. Meghan Daum

Women Writing Relationships Paradigm Magazines About Always Tradition Been Where Bread Which Body Body Image Lessons Butter Image

I don't keep a diary or a journal. Sometimes I'll send emails to friends, and that's a way of recording what I was thinking at any given time. But I've never been a journal keeper. Meghan Daum

Time Sometimes Recording Thinking Way Emails Given Never Journal Been Diary Friends Send Any Any Given Time Keep Keeper

I've been a freelancer my entire career, and, at any given time, I have several deadlines for all sorts of things, whether it's some magazine piece or ad copywriting or anything. Meghan Daum

Time Several Magazine Some Entire Entire Career Given Piece Deadlines Sort Been Any Any Given Time Anything Whether Things Ad Career

What I think is important about essayists - about the essay, as opposed to a lot of personal writing that kind of finds its way into public view - is that the material really has to be presented in a processed way. Meghan Daum

Writing Important Think Way Kind Finds About Material Opposed Lot Personal Essay Processed Public Really View Presented

I started off doing fiction in 1993. It didn't occur to me to do nonfiction because it wasn't a thing yet. So I was bumbling around, writing short stories, and then I took a nonfiction workshop, and I realized that this was what I was supposed to do. Meghan Daum

Me Writing Took Supposed Because Around Nonfiction Occur Doing Off Short Fiction Stories Short Stories Realized Then Workshop Thing Started

Meghan Daum Quotes

No more Meghan Daum quotes