I think that just because you've been through an experience doesn't make you the ultimate arbiter of what it means. We figure things out; we work things out through the help of other people who can engage with us but also be intelligently critical.
Tags: people, experience, you, work

Other Quotes by "Phil Klay"

After the fighting is done, and even when it's still happening, apologies are often needed for the recounting of bare facts. Sometimes bare facts feel unpatriotic.
Tags: fighting, sometimes, facts, feel
It's not a problem to be surrounded by other writers if that's the craft that you're doing. I suppose if you get obsessed with the notion of being a writer more than the writing itself, that would be bad. But I live near really smart, thoughtful people who take writing very seriously, and I can meet them for breakfast and talk books.
Tags: smart, breakfast, people, you
We're so used to using military terminology in civilian speech that we forget those terms might mean something very specific.
Tags: mean, something, forget, speech
In a strange way, you have to have a certain amount of distance from a thing in order to be able to write about it.
Tags: distance, strange, way, you
Pity sidesteps complexity in favor of narratives that we're comfortable with, reducing the nuances of a person's experience to a sound bite.
Tags: comfortable, sound, person, experience
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