We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices. Joan Didion choiceinterpretlesson Change image and share on social
New York was no mere city. It was instead an infinitely romantic notion, the mysterious nexus of all love and money and power, the shining and perishable dream itself. Joan Didion citydreaminfinitely Change image and share on social
I've never been keen on open adoption. It doesn't seem to solve the main problem with adoption, which is that somebody feels she was abandoned by someone else. Joan Didion abandonadoptionfelt Change image and share on social
The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind. The picture dictates the arrangement. The picture dictates whether this will be a sentence with or without clauses, a sentence that ends hard or a dying-fall sentence, long or short, active or passive. Joan Didion activearrangementclause share on social
When I went to San Francisco in that cold late spring of 1967, I did not even know what I wanted to find out, and so I just stayed around a while and made a few friends. Joan Didion coldfindfrancisco Change image and share on social
In many ways, writing is the act of saying 'I,' of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying, 'Listen to me, see it my way, change your mind.' It's an aggressive, even a hostile act. Joan Didion actaggressivechange Change image and share on social
Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a night when choice was any more than the sum of all the choices gone before? Joan Didion choicedevoidfree Change image and share on social
The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time. Joan Didion easyexpressstate Change image and share on social
Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant. Joan Didion instantlifeordinary Change image and share on social
Late afternoon on the West Coast ends with the sky doing all its brilliant stuff. Joan Didion afternoonbrilliantcoast Change image and share on social