Janet Frame Quotes

Powerful Janet Frame for Daily Growth

About Janet Frame

Janet Frame (August 28, 1924 – October 29, 2004) was a renowned New Zealand writer, best known for her richly imagined and deeply psychological novels. Born in Oronui-a-Rekohu (Chatham Islands), New Zealand, Frame spent much of her childhood in the small town of Dunedin due to her family's move. Her isolation as a child, combined with her vivid imagination, greatly influenced her later works. Frame's writing career began in 1951 when her first collection of short stories, 'The Lagoon', was published. However, it was not until 1955 that she gained widespread recognition with the publication of 'Owls Do Cry', a semi-autobiographical novel that drew from her experiences at the Dunedin Asylum where she was briefly institutionalized due to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia. Diagnosed as a schizophrenic, Frame spent six years in psychiatric institutions undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, which she later depicted in her novel 'Faces in the Water'. During this time, she continued writing secretly and was eventually released from the institutions without her permission. This experience significantly shaped her work, with many of her novels exploring themes of identity, sanity, and societal expectations. Frame's most celebrated works include 'To the Is-land', 'The Edge of the Knife', and the five-novel saga collectively known as 'The Olyver Family'. Her writing is characterized by its poetic language, intricate plotlines, and vividly drawn characters. Frame was awarded numerous honors for her work, including the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction on three occasions and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. In 1976, Janet Frame was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to literature. She continued writing until her death in 2004. Her works continue to be widely read and studied worldwide, cementing her place as one of New Zealand's most important literary figures.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We see only what we understand."

This quote by Janet Frame suggests that our perception is shaped by our understanding, knowledge, and experiences. Essentially, it implies that what we can observe or comprehend in the world around us depends on what we already know or understand. It highlights the importance of learning and expanding our knowledge as it allows us to see more and appreciate the complexity of the world.

"The more I live, the more I learn just to accept the moments as they come along."

This quote by Janet Frame emphasizes the importance of embracing life's moments as they come, rather than constantly seeking or striving for something more. As one gains life experience, there is a growing recognition that the present moment holds its own unique value and should be appreciated rather than evaluated against past or future experiences. This perspective encourages mindfulness and gratitude, fostering a deeper connection with one's own life journey and the world around them.

"I have been in spaces where I was alive and yet not myself."

This quote by Janet Frame implies a state of existence where one is physically present but mentally disconnected or out-of-body. It suggests feelings of detachment, estrangement, or dissociation from one's own identity or reality – a situation often experienced by individuals dealing with psychological trauma, mental illness, or profound emotional distress. However, the quote also carries a sense of survival and resilience, as Frame is asserting she has endured such experiences while still clinging to life.

"Fiction can be a kind of self-portraiture - a mirror in which to catch one's own face."

This quote by Janet Frame suggests that fiction, or creative writing, serves as a means for authors to explore and express their own identities and experiences. Just as a mirror reflects our physical features, fiction allows writers to reflect their inner selves, revealing their thoughts, emotions, and perspectives in the characters and narratives they create. In essence, Frame is stating that through writing fiction, authors can capture a reflection of themselves, offering readers a glimpse into the writer's unique perspective on life.

"The world is a place where it's easy to get lost but also easy to find yourself."

This quote by Janet Frame suggests that the world can be both confusing and disorienting, as one might easily lose oneself in its complexity. However, it also implies that the world offers countless opportunities for self-discovery, personal growth, and understanding. The journey through life is a process of finding one's place, purpose, and identity amidst the vastness of the world. In other words, navigating the complexities of the world helps individuals uncover their unique selves.

Electricity, the peril the wind sings to in the wires on a gray day.

- Janet Frame

Gray, Wires, Sings, Wind

They meant abnormal. Divisions of the kind were fashionable at that time, and it was so easy to stifle one's need to help by deciding that help could neither be accepted nor understood.

- Janet Frame

Kind, Need, Meant, Fashionable

Divisions of the kind were fashionable at that time, and it was so easy to stifle one's need to help by deciding that help could neither be accepted nor understood.

- Janet Frame

Kind, Need, Stifle, Fashionable

Very often the law of extremity demands an attention to irrelevance.

- Janet Frame

Law, Attention, Very, Extremity

Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination.

- Janet Frame

Border, Streets, Hours, Shopping

It would be nice to travel if you knew where you were going and where you would live at the end or do we ever know, do we ever live where we live, we're always in other places, lost, like sheep.

- Janet Frame

Always, Other, Going, Sheep

From the first place of liquid darkness, within the second place of air and light, I set down the following record with its mixture of fact and truths and memories of truths and its direction toward the Third Place, where the starting point is myth.

- Janet Frame

Fact, Air, Truths, Starting

I like to see life with its teeth out.

- Janet Frame

Life, See, Like, Teeth

They think I'm going to be a schoolteacher but I'm going to be a poet.

- Janet Frame

Think, Going, Schoolteacher, Poet

For your own good is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction.

- Janet Frame

Argument, Persuasive, His, Destruction

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