[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fboVq7CwDEk6dqHqsUYQAlXImZHB4QTWeaTa_LaHZNI0":3,"$foXSSbQe15907MetDXDk1ZrT0VJ0W-5YCek6nX5z9t4M":19},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},6510,"Betsy Lerner","B",28,null,"betsy-lerner",[12,16],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},60,"writing",6,{"tag_id":17,"tag_name":18,"tag_count":15},12068,"editing",{"quotes":20,"pagination":83},[21,28,34,41,47,53,59,65,71,77],{"id":22,"quote_text":23,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":25,"source":26,"quote_tag":27,"commentary":9},2885220,"What I want to know it whether we’re supposed to change or just accept who we are?",false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":29,"quote_text":30,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":31,"source":32,"quote_tag":33,"commentary":9},2885210,"Fear of failure is the reason most often cited to explain why so many aspiring writers never realize their dreams. But I think it’s that same fear of failure that absolutely invigorates those who do push through-that is, the fear of not being heard.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":35,"quote_text":36,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":37,"source":38,"quote_tag":39,"commentary":40},2885201,"Chances are you have a deep connection to books because at some point you discovered that they were the one truly safe place to discover and explore feelings that are banished from the dinner table, the cocktail party, the golf foursome, the bridge game. Because the writers who mattered to you have dared to say I am a sick man. And because within the world of books there is no censure.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThis poignant quote is likely a reflection of Betsy Lerner's experiences as an author and editor, particularly during her work with writers who have struggled with mental health issues. The sentiment resonates with the era of 1990s-2000s literary scene, where authors like David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs were candidly sharing their struggles with addiction and mental illness. As Lerner navigated this landscape, she likely recognized the solace that readers find in literature.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nAt first glance, the quote appears to celebrate the liberating power of books. However, upon closer examination, it reveals a more complex truth: the comfort offered by literature is not merely about escapism, but also about permission – permission to acknowledge and explore one's own vulnerabilities without fear of judgment. By stating that writers \"dared to say I am a sick man,\" Lerner highlights the inherent risk-taking involved in sharing personal struggles through writing.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, modern professionals can benefit from embracing vulnerability as a strength rather than a weakness. By acknowledging and sharing their own emotional struggles through creative pursuits or even private writing, they can tap into the same sense of liberation that readers experience when encountering authentic literature.",{"id":42,"quote_text":43,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":44,"source":45,"quote_tag":46,"commentary":9},2885193,"Asking for advice about what you should write is a little like asking for help getting dressed. I can you tell you what I think looks good, but you have to wear it. And as every fashion victim knows, very few people look good in everything.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":48,"quote_text":49,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":50,"source":51,"quote_tag":52,"commentary":9},2885182,"The writer labors in isolation, yet all that intensive, lonely work is in the service of communicating, is an attempt to reach another person.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":54,"quote_text":55,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":56,"source":57,"quote_tag":58,"commentary":9},2885176,"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change. The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference. I still didn’t know the difference.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":60,"quote_text":61,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":62,"source":63,"quote_tag":64,"commentary":9},2885175,"But editors are still the world’s readers. And thus the eyes of the world.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":66,"quote_text":67,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":68,"source":69,"quote_tag":70,"commentary":9},2885173,"I wondered if I was just the sum of my brain scan, little dots clustered in my frontal lobe. Is that where the poems came from? The desire to destroy myself? This last depression had scared me. It had come on so quickly, not like the gradual woolgathering in my brain I had known before.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":72,"quote_text":73,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":74,"source":75,"quote_tag":76,"commentary":9},2885161,"Tomorrow, I am fifty-two years old. And I want to say unequivocally that I am very happy to be alive, that being alive is better than being dead. And if I have just one wish it is this: that you work with all your might and love with all your heart and never lose hope and never give up.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":78,"quote_text":79,"author_id":5,"source_id":15,"has_image":24,"author":80,"source":81,"quote_tag":82,"commentary":9},2885147,"The world doesn’t fully make sense until the writer has secured his version of it on the page. And the act of writing is strangely more lifelike than life.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":84,"totalPages":85,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":86},1,3,10]