Famous Quotes by Mary Karr

“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.”

“I'd spent way more years worrying about how to look like a poet -- buying black clothes, smearing on scarlet lipstick, languidly draping myself over thrift-store furniture -- than I had learning how to assemble words in some discernible order.”

A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.

The heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking. It is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn.

When you’re afraid of something, face it, and it will become less terrifying.

When we deal in lies, we weaken the foundation of our own understanding.

Writing memoir is about being your own psychiatrist, untangling the mess of who you are.

Writing is a way to process pain. You have to hold it up and write down everything you remember.

For a memoirist, the job is to speak the truth about the life you’ve lived.

Pain has always driven me to the page, and it’s only in writing that I’ve found peace.

A memoirist should be on their own side, but as self-aware as possible.

You’ve got to stay vulnerable, yet self-protective when you write a memoir.

It is through confession that we find redemption. Sharing the truth frees us.

Art has the power to turn pain into beauty, and memoir does this by revealing what’s often hidden.

In memoir, you have to own the past, or the past will own you.

You can’t change your past, but you can change your relationship with it.

Truth is not contingent on what you want to hear or say; it just exists.

The past is a pebble in my shoe, but it helps me walk forward with a limp of truth.

Love doesn’t come from finding the perfect person. It comes from seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

The process of telling the truth is healing, even if it’s hard to say.

The most powerful words in English are 'Tell me a story.'

A lie will add weight, but the truth lightens the load you carry.

Truth is not contingent on what you want to hear or say; it just exists.

A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.

A memoirist should be on their own side, but as self-aware as possible.

The heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking. It is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn.

You’ve got to stay vulnerable, yet self-protective when you write a memoir.

Love doesn’t come from finding the perfect person. It comes from seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

A lie will add weight, but the truth lightens the load you carry.

Writing memoir is about being your own psychiatrist, untangling the mess of who you are.

Art has the power to turn pain into beauty, and memoir does this by revealing what’s often hidden.

You can’t change your past, but you can change your relationship with it.

For a memoirist, the job is to speak the truth about the life you’ve lived.

When we deal in lies, we weaken the foundation of our own understanding.

The process of telling the truth is healing, even if it’s hard to say.

In memoir, you have to own the past, or the past will own you.

Writing is a way to process pain. You have to hold it up and write down everything you remember.

The most powerful words in English are 'Tell me a story.'

Pain has always driven me to the page, and it’s only in writing that I’ve found peace.

When you’re afraid of something, face it, and it will become less terrifying.

The past is a pebble in my shoe, but it helps me walk forward with a limp of truth.

It is through confession that we find redemption. Sharing the truth frees us.

“Mother’s particular devils had remained mysterious to me for decades. So had her past. Few born liars ever intentionally embark in truth’s direction, even those who believe that such a journey might axiomatically set them free.”