Lorrie Moore Quotes

Powerful Lorrie Moore for Daily Growth

About Lorrie Moore

Lorrie Moore (born December 19, 1957) is an acclaimed American short-story writer and novelist, renowned for her witty prose, sharp humor, and insightful explorations of the human condition. Born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Moore attended Northwestern University, where she studied creative writing under the tutelage of prestigious writers such as William Stafford and Theodore Lidz. She continued her education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a master's degree in 1982. Moore's professional writing career began in earnest with the publication of her short story "How to Become a Writer" in The New Yorker in 1978. This marked the start of a long and fruitful relationship between Moore and the esteemed magazine, which has since published many of her works. In 1985, Moore's first collection of short stories, 'Self-Help,' was published to critical acclaim. The book showcased her distinctive voice and ability to create compelling characters in a variety of situations. The stories within this collection often explore the themes of love, loss, and identity with a blend of humor and pathos that has become Moore's trademark. Following 'Self-Help,' Moore went on to publish several more critically acclaimed collections of short stories, including 'Like Life' (1990), 'Birds of America' (1998), and 'Self-Help: Fictional Essays and Other Dementia' (2005). Moore's first novel, 'Anagrams,' was published in 1986. The novel, set primarily on a university campus, explores themes of love, loss, and identity through the lives of its characters. It received positive reviews and solidified Moore's place among contemporary American authors. In 2013, Moore released her second novel, 'A Gate at the Stairs,' which follows the life of a young woman named Tassie Keltjin as she navigates the complexities of love, family, and social injustice in a small college town. The novel was well-received by critics and readers alike. Today, Lorrie Moore continues to write and publish short stories and novels that captivate readers with their insightful commentary on modern life and enduring human emotions. Her work has earned her numerous awards, including the Rea Award for the Short Story, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Whiting Writers' Award. Moore currently teaches creative writing at the Columbia University School of the Arts.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Writing is a way of talking without opening your mouth."

This quote suggests that writing, like speaking, allows individuals to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a meaningful way. However, unlike verbal communication, writing provides the opportunity for self-reflection, revision, and control over how one's message is perceived by others. The beauty of writing lies in its ability to serve as an outlet for personal expression without the constraints of real-time conversation.


"You can't understand anyone until you understand everything about them, and I mean everything, including their most secret thoughts and desires."

This quote by Lorrie Moore emphasizes the importance of empathy in understanding another person. It suggests that to truly grasp another's perspective, one must delve into not just their surface-level thoughts and feelings, but also their deepest, most intimate secrets and desires. This comprehensive knowledge is essential for achieving a profound level of understanding and connection with others.


"The problem with foreseeing the future is that it eliminates surprises, which is what life is all about."

This quote suggests that anticipating the future can rob us of the joy and excitement of unexpected events, which are an integral part of living. By focusing too much on predictions, we may miss out on discovering the serendipitous moments that make life interesting and enriching. Instead, embracing uncertainty allows us to appreciate and savor those spontaneous occurrences as they happen.


"It seemed to him that the real world was always happening somewhere else."

This quote suggests a feeling of detachment or alienation from one's current reality, as if meaningful experiences are happening elsewhere, but not in one's immediate surroundings. It implies a longing for connection or participation in life beyond one's present circumstances, possibly due to dissatisfaction or disillusionment with the current situation. The character, and perhaps the reader, is left yearning for engagement with a more vibrant, meaningful world that feels just out of reach.


"Maybe this was the great truth of adulthood: that you are constantly letting people down."

This quote suggests that as adults, we often fall short of others' expectations due to various reasons such as limitations, misunderstandings, or simple human error. The quote underscores a universal experience in adulthood - the realization that it's challenging to meet everyone's needs and fulfill their desires all the time. This insight highlights the complexity and emotional depth involved in interpersonal relationships as adults. It also encourages empathy and understanding, reminding us to be more tolerant of ourselves and others when we inevitably disappoint one another.


I've never been to a dinner party where everyone at the dinner table didn't say something funny.

- Lorrie Moore

Say, Everyone, Been, Dinner Party

I want to create something that doesn't exist exactly in the real world, but exists in a kind of parallel to the real world.

- Lorrie Moore

Real, Kind, Want, Parallel

I'm surrounded by music; I always was when I was growing up and continue to be. And I love music. And when I imagine a fictional world, I imagine there's music in it for those people, too.

- Lorrie Moore

Love, Always, Surrounded, Fictional

If you look at most women's writing, women writers will describe women differently from the way male writers describe women. The details that go into a woman writer's description of a female character are, perhaps, a little more judgmental. They're looking for certain things, because they know what women do to look a certain way.

- Lorrie Moore

Woman, Certain Way, Women Writers

When I was in graduate school, I had a teacher who said to me, 'Women writers should marry somebody who thinks writing is cute. Because if they really realised what writing was, they would run a mile.'

- Lorrie Moore

Run, Marry, Had, Women Writers

I grew up with 'Life' magazine on the coffee table, Life cereal on the breakfast table, and the game of Life on the card table. People were just so happy to be alive, I guess.

- Lorrie Moore

Happy, Game, Alive, Cereal

I've been falsely accused of drawing too much from real life. But I am a petty thief - I take little things. And, I mean, I can hardly write 10 words before I start to make things up. I start to invent, because that's what I want to do. I'm running away to an invented place.

- Lorrie Moore

Away, Thief, Been, Hardly

My father was the child of academics and was probably destined to become an academic himself but vetoed that idea. Bailed, dropped out of graduate school and just went to work for an insurance company. But the house was full of books and music and all of that.

- Lorrie Moore

Father, Insurance, Idea, Graduate School

Sometimes I ask myself if writing novels is even respectable.

- Lorrie Moore

Myself, Sometimes, Even, Novels

Everything one reads is nourishment of some sort - good food or junk food - and one assumes it all goes in and has its way with your brain cells.

- Lorrie Moore

Some, Goes, Assumes, Junk Food

I don't sit down to write a funny story. Every single thing I sit down to write is meant to be sad.

- Lorrie Moore

Down, Meant, Single Thing, Meant To Be

I think women do write politically all the time. Margaret Atwood does; Doris Lessing does.

- Lorrie Moore

Think, I Think, Politically, Margaret

Some people get their books on the best-seller list and then they count the number of weeks, and I just never want to live that way.

- Lorrie Moore

Want, Some, Weeks, Best-Seller

I've had nonstop financial problems my whole adult life. It's always been a constant balance, year to year: 'Where's the time? Where's the money?'

- Lorrie Moore

Always, Been, Constant, Nonstop

To me, writing is much freer than dancing. With writing, you could do it whenever you wanted. You didn't have to do little exercises and stay in shape. You could have great moments of inspiration that advanced the story. In dance, unless you're going to choreograph things yourself, you're at the service of someone else.

- Lorrie Moore

Dancing, Advanced, Freer

I love plays. Even bad ones. I like the fact that actual live, breathing people are standing before you in tense situations that you are not personally responsible for.

- Lorrie Moore

Love, Actual, Plays, Bad Ones

You know, as fiction writers, if our instincts are off, we can't pay our bills.

- Lorrie Moore

Fiction, Fiction Writers, Instincts

It was part of being a girl in the '60s that you were creative.

- Lorrie Moore

Part, Being, Were, Being A Girl

I'm a little harsh. When people say, 'I have writers block. What do you suggest?' I say, 'If you can't write, don't write. No one needs your writing. Don't torture yourself.'

- Lorrie Moore

Say, Needs, Harsh, Block

I'm very interested in what people will do for money. Money: it's timeless.

- Lorrie Moore

Money, Will, Very, Timeless

Rather than a teaching tool, I think a novel is more of a witnessing entity. A witnessing entity? What is that? I just want the reader to step in and experience it as a story.

- Lorrie Moore

Think, I Think, Rather, Tool

Twenty-year-olds have a kind of emotional idealism about relationships and about the world that enables them to say, 'No, you lied to me. Goodbye.' When they see wickedness, they walk away.

- Lorrie Moore

Away, Idealism, Wickedness, Enables

You know, I'm just a very boring, not very funny person in person. I don't feel pressured to be otherwise.

- Lorrie Moore

Feel, Very, Otherwise, Pressured

If you record the world honestly, there's no way people can stop being funny. A lot of fiction writing doesn't get that idea, as if to acknowledge it would trivialize the story or trivialize human nature, when in fact human nature is reduced and falsified if the comic aspects are not included.

- Lorrie Moore

Fact, Fiction, Idea, Human Nature

I usually grow sick of my short-story characters and think, 'I never want to see you again.'

- Lorrie Moore

Grow, Think, Want, Short-Story

The only really good piece of advice I have for my students is, 'Write something you'd never show your mother or father.' And you know what they say? 'I could never do that!'

- Lorrie Moore

Father, Advice, Could, They Say

Nabokov's adventures in language and style and naked braininess are really unparalleled.

- Lorrie Moore

Style, Language, Naked, Unparalleled

I'm not sure that niceness is what we should promote in writers.

- Lorrie Moore

Should, Sure, Writers, Promote

A story is a kind of biopsy of human life. A story is both local, specific, small, and deep, in a kind of penetrating, layered, and revealing way.

- Lorrie Moore

Deep, Small, Kind, Penetrating

Literature, of course, is not a contest.

- Lorrie Moore

Literature, Course, Contest

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