I want to live my life, not record it.

Dear Diary, Today I tried not to think about Mr. Knightly. I tried not to think about him when I discussed the menu with Cook… I tried not to think about him in the garden where I thrice plucked the petals off a daisy to ascertain his feelings for Harriet. I don’t think we should keep daisies in the garden, they really are a drab little flower. And I tried not to think about him when I went to bed, but something had to be done.

If you read someone else’s diary, you get what you deserve.

I guess whatever maturity is there may be there because I’ve been keeping a journal forever. In high school my friends would make fun of me – you’re doing your man diary again. So I was always trying to translate experience into words.

For in our family an experience was not finished, not truly experienced, unless written down or shared with another.

Keeping a diary is like closing your bedroom door and refusing to come out until dinnertime: it is a declaration of self.