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Jane Smiley: Your sons weren't...

Jane Smiley: Your sons weren't...

Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for.

Source: In...

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Katherine F Gerould: We put [young...

Katherine F Gerould: We put [young...

We put [young children] into kindergarten where their reasoning powers are ruined; or, if we can afford it, we buy...

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Nancy Friday: Spontaneous and honest...

Nancy Friday: Spontaneous and honest...

Spontaneous and honest love admits errors, hesitations, and human failings; it can be tested and repaired. Idealized...

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Annie Dillard: The life of...

Annie Dillard: The life of...

The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less;...

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Annie Dillard: The secret of...

Annie Dillard: The secret of...

The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit, till you yourself are a sail, whetted,...

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Katherine Paterson: Peace is not...

Katherine Paterson: Peace is not...

Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out...

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Jean Rhys: She could give...

Jean Rhys: She could give...

She could give herself up to the written word as naturally as a good dancer to music or a fine swimmer to water. But...

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Amy Tan: Who knows where...

Amy Tan: Who knows where...

Who knows where inspiration comes from? Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the...

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Daisy Ashford: I am parshial...

Daisy Ashford: I am parshial...

I am parshial [sic] to ladies if they are nice. I suppose it is my nature. I am not quite a gentleman but you would...

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Naomi Mitchison: After you've written...

Naomi Mitchison: After you've written...

After you've written about something once, though, it's very dangerous to try and do it again. The original story was...

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Johanna Spyri: Oh, I wish...

Johanna Spyri: Oh, I wish...

Oh, I wish that God had not given me what I prayed for! It was not so good as I thought.

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Nella Larsen: She wished to...

Nella Larsen: She wished to...

She wished to find out about this hazardous business of passing, this breaking away from all that was familiar and...

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Francoise Sagan: Of course the...

Francoise Sagan: Of course the...

Of course the illusion of art is to make one believe that great literature is very close to life, but exactly the...

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George Eliot: There is a...

George Eliot: There is a...

There is a sort of jealousy which needs very little fire; it is hardly a passion, but a blight bred in the cloudy,...

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Mary McCarthy: Understanding is often...

Mary McCarthy: Understanding is often...

Understanding is often a prelude to forgiveness, but they are not the same, and we often forgive what we cannot...

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Iris Murdoch: Happiness is a...

Iris Murdoch: Happiness is a...

Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with...

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Margaret Atwood: Because I am...

Margaret Atwood: Because I am...

Because I am a mother, I am capable of being shocked: as I never was when I was not one.

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Joyce Carol Oates: She ransacked her...

Joyce Carol Oates: She ransacked her...

She ransacked her mind but there was nothing in it.

Source: Them, pt. 1 ch. 15,...

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Cynthia Ozick: To imagine the...

Cynthia Ozick: To imagine the...

To imagine the unimaginable is the highest use of the imagination.

Source: In Words...

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Ouida: Could we see...

Ouida: Could we see...

Could we see when and where we would meet again, we would be more tender when we bid our friends...

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