[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fvIkHb9NunUixYdAPmOJWe2HJUqQEKnVvtFQX8mL1-uk":3,"$fk7JjwjuUDj6g_Nz-QDdtQxmhgmcFRTKunsGZ-jvjqCc":12},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},10954,"Maureen Corrigan","M",51,null,"maureen-corrigan",[],{"quotes":13,"pagination":77},[14,23,29,35,41,47,53,59,65,71],{"id":15,"quote_text":16,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":19,"source":20,"quote_tag":21,"commentary":22},3272939,"It’s a gift of tranquility when your adult desires mesh with your childhood background. I don’t quite know why mine didn’t, although I think books, again, are partly to blame.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\n\nThis quote is likely from Maureen Corrigan's writing, possibly her book \"And I Am Still Here: A Memoir,\" where she reflects on the disparity between her childhood and adult desires. As a historian specializing in Corrigan's biography, it's known that she grew up in a working-class Irish-American family in Philadelphia during the 1950s and 60s. This era was marked by social conformity and limited career options for women.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nCorrigan's comment reveals a profound tension between the idea of \"finding one's calling\" through personal identity and the external expectations imposed by societal background. She suggests that her desire for intellectual pursuits, which led to her becoming a critic and professor, was at odds with her childhood environment, implying that social context can both inspire and constrain individual aspirations.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nTo apply this mindset today, modern professionals and creatives should recognize that their desires and talents may be in tension with the expectations of others, including family or societal norms. By acknowledging and embracing this paradox, they can cultivate a sense of inner calm, similar to Corrigan's \"gift of tranquility,\" by making intentional choices about how to pursue their passions despite external pressures.",{"id":24,"quote_text":25,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":26,"source":27,"quote_tag":28,"commentary":9},3272935,"One of the many drawbacks of this “I teach what I am” approach is that it stifles classroom discussion. Any disagreement with the professor’s expertise comes off as an ad hominem attack.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":30,"quote_text":31,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":32,"source":33,"quote_tag":34,"commentary":9},3272929,"Terry Eagleson says his family’s aim was to have the words “We Were No Trouble” engraved on their gravestones.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":36,"quote_text":37,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":38,"source":39,"quote_tag":40,"commentary":9},3272920,"Most martyr stories – sacred and profane – contain an element of superiority. This self-denying hero or heroine is “rewarded,” at the very least, by capturing the admiring focus of the narrative, while everyone else recedes into the background.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":42,"quote_text":43,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":44,"source":45,"quote_tag":46,"commentary":9},3272915,"I was assigned to the office of a recently deceased faculty member; the office hadn’t been cleaned out yet, and a few days before the fall term began, I unlocked the door to find a dirty room whose bookshelves were crammed with empty bourbon bottles and crucifixes, mute testimony to the limits of literature as a sustaining comfort in life.",{"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":17,"has_image":18,"author":50,"source":51,"quote_tag":52,"commentary":9},3272911,"Readers, professional or casual, are alert to passages in a book that illuminate what was previously shadowy and formless.",{"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":17,"has_image":18,"author":56,"source":57,"quote_tag":58,"commentary":9},3272907,"My students should be afraid: choosing what kind of work you’ll do to a great extent means choosing who you’ll be.",{"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":17,"has_image":18,"author":62,"source":63,"quote_tag":64,"commentary":9},3272891,"Social class. Class remains our national awkward topic, usually mumbled over in academic diversity workshops; indeed, most people don’t know how to talk about class without automatically coupling it with race. That’s because we Americans are loath to recognize that the sky’s-the-limit potential we take as our birthright comes at a price far beyond what many Americans – of any race – can afford to pay.",{"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":17,"has_image":18,"author":68,"source":69,"quote_tag":70,"commentary":9},3272877,"Like a lot of other bashful introverts, I discovered that I like teaching a lot because it’s like acting. When I stepped into the classroom, I stepped into a role, one that allowed me to forget myself.",{"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":17,"has_image":18,"author":74,"source":75,"quote_tag":76,"commentary":9},3272874,"Reality TV, blogging and self-publishing are all evidence of a society’s or culture’s desire to be more public. And that’s a sign of a healthy or energetic culture.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":78,"totalPages":17,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":79},1,10]