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Annie Dillard: I startled a...

Annie Dillard: I startled a...

I startled a weasel who startled me, and we exchanged a long glance. . . . Our eyes locked, and someone threw away the...

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Natalia Ginzburg: Today, as never...

Natalia Ginzburg: Today, as never...

Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster...

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Mary McCarthy: Every age has...

Mary McCarthy: Every age has...

Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted.

Source: On the Contrary, pt. 1,...

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Gloria Naylor: Not only is...

Gloria Naylor: Not only is...

Not only is your story worth telling, but it can be told in words so painstakingly eloquent that it becomes a...

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Marguerite Duras: Journalism without a...

Marguerite Duras: Journalism without a...

Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It's absolutely...

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Mary McCarthy: I am putting...

Mary McCarthy: I am putting...

I am putting real plums into an imaginary cake.

Source: On The Group,, her 1963...

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Lillian Smith: Education is a...

Lillian Smith: Education is a...

Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with...

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Enid Bagnold: Judges don't age....

Enid Bagnold: Judges don't age....

Judges don't age. Time decorates them.

Source: Judge, in The Chalk Garden, act...

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Shirley Jackson: It has long...

Shirley Jackson: It has long...

It has long been my belief that in times of great stress, such as a 4-day vacation, the thin veneer of family wears...

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Taylor Caldwell: Contrary to general...

Taylor Caldwell: Contrary to general...

Contrary to general opinion, women are not so sentimental as men, but are much more...

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Lois McMaster Bujold: Experience suggests it...

Lois McMaster Bujold: Experience suggests it...

Experience suggests it doesn?t matter so much how you got here, as what you do after you arrive....

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Clara Barton: Others are writing...

Clara Barton: Others are writing...

Others are writing my biography, and let it rest as they elect to make it. I have lived my life, well and ill, always...

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Elizabeth Blackwell: It is not...

Elizabeth Blackwell: It is not...

It is not easy to be a pioneer -- but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for...

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Margaret Atwood: . . ....

Margaret Atwood: . . ....

. . . time is compressed like the fist I close on my knee. . . . I hold inside it the clues and solutions and the...

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Joyce Carol Oates: Our house is...

Joyce Carol Oates: Our house is...

Our house is made of glass . . . and our lives are made of glass; and there is nothing we can do to protect...

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Angela Carter: Reading a book...

Angela Carter: Reading a book...

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. . . . You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience...

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Gail Godwin: Actors between plays...

Gail Godwin: Actors between plays...

Actors between plays are like ghosts looking for bodies to inhabit.

Source: The...

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Meridel Le Sueur: These are the...

Meridel Le Sueur: These are the...

These are the stories that never, never die, that are carried like seed into a new country, are told to you and me and...

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Anais Nin: We don't see...

Anais Nin: We don't see...

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Source: In The Speaker's...

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Iris Murdoch: A bad review...

Iris Murdoch: A bad review...

A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.

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