In the present article, I discuss the issue of whether writers’ diaries reveal strong evaluations of their authors. Following Charles Taylor, I understand strong evaluation as the best axiological explanation which a given person is able to formulate and present as the reason for his or her preferences. This axiological awareness is a non-trivial internal choice made from among many possible explanations – it is a self-interpretation aimed at showing the source of the goodness instantiated by the person’s values. In the article, I look for evidence of such awareness in several well-known writers’ diaries. My conclusions are skeptical. Although the journals provide some clues in the search for strong evaluations, they are too chaotic and inconclusive. David Parker believes it more promising to look for fundamental axiological awareness in autobiographies instead. I find his approach correct; distanced reflection seems to be the only chance to reveal strong evaluations. This is despite the aporias involved in self-knowledge.