"My ideas usually come not at my desk, writing, but in the midst of living"
About this Quote
The subtext is also a critique of artistic posturing. “At my desk” stands in for institution, routine, and the kind of productivity culture that treats inspiration as something you can schedule. “In the midst of living” implies interruption, risk, embodiment. Nin positions the artist as porous, taking in the world at the exact moment it happens, not after it’s been sterilized into anecdotes.
Context matters: as a woman writing through early- and mid-20th-century literary gatekeeping, Nin’s emphasis on lived experience carries an extra edge. It smuggles the private sphere - relationships, erotic life, emotional nuance - into the realm of serious art, insisting those aren’t distractions from creation but its source code. The intent isn’t to dismiss writing labor; it’s to relocate the spark. Life generates the voltage. The desk just captures the current.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Evidence: My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living. (April 1940, p. 78). Primary source is Anaïs Nin’s diary entry dated April 1940 as published in the edited Diary series (edited with a preface by Gunther Stuhlmann). A secondary bibliographic record confirms this volume exists as a 1969 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich publication and provides ISBNs, but the only openly accessible page-specific locator I could verify online is the citation to p. 78 given by Quotationize. For strict verification, you should confirm the wording on p. 78 in a physical copy or a searchable eBook scan of the 1969/Harvest edition. WorldCat lists the volume as 'cop. 1969' with the ISBN-10 0156260271 / ISBN-13 9780156260275. Other candidates (1) The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1939–1944 (Anaïs Nin, 1971) compilation95.0% Anaïs Nin Gunther Stuhlmann. I had been told I would meet the Greek poet Kalamares. As soon as I arrived I saw a tall... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Nin, Anais. (2026, February 27). My ideas usually come not at my desk, writing, but in the midst of living. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-ideas-usually-come-not-at-my-desk-writing-but-28828/
Chicago Style
Nin, Anais. "My ideas usually come not at my desk, writing, but in the midst of living." FixQuotes. February 27, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-ideas-usually-come-not-at-my-desk-writing-but-28828/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My ideas usually come not at my desk, writing, but in the midst of living." FixQuotes, 27 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-ideas-usually-come-not-at-my-desk-writing-but-28828/. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
