{"quotes":[{"text":"Writing allows a person to explore both physical reality and the internal workings of their mind. Writing places us in touch with our unconsciousness. Writing purposefully, applying the white heat of self-examination, can act to transform oneself. Writing allows a person with sufficient resolve to anneal their basic constitution, make their mind more flexible.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["know-thyself","self-determination","self-determination","self-development","self-development","self-examination","self-exploration","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge","transformation","transformation","writers","writers-on-thinking","writers-on-writing","writing","writing-life"],"id":4046,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"It is wisdom to know who you are, but not to the point of excluding who you might become.","author":"James Rozoff","tags":["potential","self-knowing","self-knowledge","wisdom"],"id":15624,"author_id":"James+Rozoff"},{"text":"We gain knowledge about the interworking of our personal mind through observation of the external world and personal introspection. Contemplation requires a degree of stillness, the willingness to consider deep thoughts.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["contemplation","introspection","observation","self-awareness","self-awareness","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge"],"id":17302,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"Writing about the self to spur intellectual growth or attain a teardrop of emotional salvation is akin to a fish attempting to construct a net that will capture itself.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["enlightenment","memoir","memoir-writing","narrative-writing","personal-development","personal-growth","salvation","self-awareness","self-awareness","self-discovery","self-discovery","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge"],"id":37461,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"Writing is an exemplary means to make contact with the whole of the self. What ultimately makes up the self is a collation of personal knowledge derived from physical, mental, and emotional experiences. The only way to divine the self is to understand what comprises its constituent components. The self is what we do, think, and act. Writing is not merely a documenter of the actions of the self. Writing, similar to other artistic activities, is one of the fundamental activities that a self can perform.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["self","self-awareness","self-awareness","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge","writing","writing-life"],"id":46557,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"A person whom writes begins by putting down what they know about loneliness, shame, love, and heartache. In writing fully, they discover many other aspects of themselves that they never suspected including doubts, beliefs, ironies, and farcicalities.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["belief","doubt","heartache","loneliness","loneliness","love","love","memoir","memoir-writing","narrative-writing","self-awareness","self-discovery","self-discovery","self-doubt","self-knowing","self-knowledge","shame","shame","writing"],"id":57842,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"All roads taken lead us only to ourselves.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["enlightenment","enlightenment","introspection","mediation","self-awareness","self-awareness","self-determination","self-discovery","self-discovery","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge"],"id":71228,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"Writing is an exhausting and demoralizing task that destroys human conceits. Writing an elongated series of personal essay opens a person’s mind to explore paradoxes and discover previously unrealized personal truths. Writing is as arduous as any trek into the wilderness. Every sentence takes a writer deeper into the jungle of the mind, a world of frightening inconsistencies created by our waking life’s desire that the world of chaos conform to our convenience.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["autobiography","chaos","essay","essay-writing","essayist","essays","journey-of-self-discovery","journey-of-the-mind","know-thyself","memoir","memoir-writing","memoirs","personal-essay","personal-essays","self-actualization","self-awakening","self-aware","self-awareness","self-awareness","self-discovery","self-discovery","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge","sentence","sentences","writers","writers-on-thinking","writers-on-writing","writers-on-writing-books","writers-on-writing-life","writing","writing-memoir"],"id":118514,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"Narrative writing represents a personal attempt to quantify and understand the psychological singularities behind the author’s personality traits as delineated by winnowed list of formative life experiences.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["autobiography","memoir","memoir-writing","narrative-writing","personality-traits","self-awareness","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-knowledge","self-questioning","self-understanding","writing","writing-process"],"id":130110,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"},{"text":"Stored personal memories along with handed down collective memories of stories, legends, and history allows us to collate our interactions with a physical and social world and develop a personal code of survival. In essence, we all become self-styled sages, creating our own book of wisdom based upon our studied observations and practical knowledge gleaned from living and learning. What we quickly discover is that no textbook exist how to conduct our life, because the world has yet to produce a perfect person – an ideal observer – whom is capable of handing down a concrete exemplar of epistemic virtues. We each draw upon the guiding knowledge, theories, and advice available for us in order to explore the paradoxes, ironies, inconsistencies, and the absurdities encountered while living in a supernatural world. We mold our personal collection of information into a practical practicum how to live and die. Each day we define and redefine who we are, determine how we will react today, and chart our quest into an uncertain future.","author":"Kilroy J. Oldster","tags":["code-of-conduct","existential-angst","existentialism","historical","historical-novel","history","identity","know-thyself","legacy","legacy","legends","life-lessons","life-lessons","meaning-of-life","meaningful-life","meaningfulness","memories","memories","memory","memory","personal-history","personal-observation","philosophy-of-life","purpose-driven-life","purpose-of-life","purposeful","purposeful-living","sage-advice","sages","self-awareness","self-determination","self-development","self-identity","self-knowing","self-knowledge","self-realization","stories","storytelling","truth","truth-of-life","uncertainties-in-life","uncertainty","wisdom","wisdom"],"id":142167,"author_id":"Kilroy+J.+Oldster"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":29,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}