Writing Quotes: Mary Karr on wading into memory’s waters

You might think twice about writing memoir after reading this sobering line from Mary Karr’s book The Art of Memoir, but don’t let it stop you. Even though she issues this warning, she also assures the reader that “all the scrupulous self-examinations” she’s been privy to, on page or off, “always ended with acceptance and relief” (12).

You’ll survive wading into memory’s waters. You’ll learn who you are and emerge with “the personal liberation that comes from the examined life” (12).

“[E]verybody I know who wades deep enough into memory’s waters drowns a little” (27). — Mary Karr, The Art of Memoir

Source: Karr, Mary. The Art of Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 2015. Print.

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