Jean Stafford Quotes

She unbent her mind afterwards - over a book.

The mind of man is like a clock that is always running down, and requires to be constantly wound up.

When I get time off, my brain is just, that's it. I sit. I veg. People will think that I'm upset or not happy, but I'm just exhausted. I'm just zoned out.

Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery - it recharges by running.

Being tired isn't anything. What's important is the mind. The body being tired isn't important. You can get over the body being tired by resting for a half-hour or an hour. What's important is whether the mind is tired.

The tired parts of the mind can be rested and strengthened not merely by rest, but by using other parts.

Young authors give their brains much exercise and little food.

Every time I use an app, part of my brain dies! We'll get to the point where we go to bed and wonder: 'Did I have a thought today?' You'll have to go to your 'Thought' app!

I used to want to be a lawyer, but I didn't want to have half my brain sucked out.

Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists on playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.

I have always heard that you need to give yourself a long time to unplug when you do a sabbatical. I unplugged so fast I was a little concerned that I was losing brain capacity.

Dynamic activity and deep rest of the mind are complementary to each other.

My mind is never stopping. I think, if you stop, you die. Maybe it is a problem for me - I have to talk to myself and say, 'Please stop. Switch off.'

Unintelligent persons are like weeds that thrive in good ground; they love to be amused in proportion to the degree in which they weary themselves.

Sadly, I haven't had a brain cell since I had children.

Work less than you think you should. It took me a while to realise there was a point each day when my creativity ran out and I was just producing words - usually lousy ones - for their own sake. And nap: it helps to refresh the brain, at least mine.

We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly - spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.

You can't change who you are, but you can change what you have in your head, you can refresh what you're thinking about, you can put some fresh air in your brain.

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

My brain doesn't have enough time to play around like that. To get limber enough to have a nightmare.

Every time you work on a project, it's a little vacation from the project you're working on the other 23 hours. That's the thing - it replenishes you to do something else.

What could be wiser and to give people who can think the leisure in which to do it.

You can only be independently creative for so long until your brain burns out.

Your brain is cooked when you write hard for three or four hours.

I'm pretty disciplined. But your brain needs boredom. It needs routine.