Life & Wisdom Quote by Paula Danziger

“Sometimes it’s easier to show than it is to tell” is a craft note disguised as a life note, the kind children’s and YA writers trade like contraband. Paula Danziger isn’t arguing for silence; she’s pointing at the stubborn gap between what we feel and what language can cleanly package. “Tell” is the orderly version of experience: the explanation, the moral, the résumé of emotions. “Show” is messier and therefore more believable: a slammed door, a suddenly too-bright laugh, the way someone rearranges their fries instead of answering.

The line works because it acknowledges a practical truth about communication without pretending it’s noble. “Sometimes” does heavy lifting. It concedes that telling has its place, but also admits how often telling becomes a defense mechanism: we explain to control the narrative, to stay impressive, to avoid vulnerability. Showing, by contrast, risks being misread. It invites the reader to participate, to infer, to lean in. That’s not just a stylistic preference; it’s an ethic of trust between writer and audience.

Danziger’s context matters: her books often orbit kids and teens who don’t have the vocabulary, status, or safety to deliver neat speeches about what’s wrong. For them, behavior is language. In that world, “showing” is how pain leaks out when “telling” would be punished, dismissed, or impossible. The quote doubles as a reminder that the most honest scenes in fiction - and in real life - are frequently the ones where nobody can quite say it straight.