Quotations in Abundance

 

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SheWrites is a community for women writers of every ilk. Most recently, they’ve put out a call for quotes, by or about women.

Here are some of the best in the comment section so far:

“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” – Clementine Paddleford

“You try to be good, to be good and loving and nice and not hard, not tough, a sweet nice girl, not ugly, not full of ugliness, but people make it impossible.” — Michelle Tea

“I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it.” – Maya Angelou

“I was a late bloomer. But anyone who blooms at all, ever, is very lucky.” — Sharon Olds

“For a writer who’s used to being in her own head, being around other people all the time can feel like a loss of self.” — Kristal Brent Zook, author of Black Women’s Lives

“Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening. ” – Gertrude Stein

“The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be…because of all I may become I will close my eyes and leap!” - - Mary Anne Radmacher

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.” — Janis Joplin

On friendship — an update.

We’ve been pretty busy here at Subterfuge. Certain Ds have been overwhelmed by work. And F has been working on something that’s making her tear her hair out. The creative process is a bitch.

We hate it when we skip days. Yesterday, WordPress.com late-night outage prevented us from posting. Today we’re both tired. Tomorrow is another day and all of that.

But exciting things are happening. Our lives are moving forward. Another day is lived.

We leave you with a beautiful quote on friendship and bonding. It’s something sweet for the weekend, like a good candy to be savored.

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The pleasure of your company is a many-sided affair. It includes the pleasure of seeing you, the pleasure of hearing you talk, the drama of watching your actions, your likes and dislikes and adventures; the pleasure of hunting you up in your haunts, and the delicate flattery we feel when you hunt us up in ours. We mean all of this and more when we say that we find you ‘congenial’.

Congeniality, when once established between two kindred spirits or in a group, is the most carefree of human relationships. It is effortless, like purring. It is a basic theme in friendship.

– Frances Lester Warner

Imagine, a newspaper!

A Liberal! God spare him from overeducated women! What had that vicar been thinking, letting his daughter read the newspaper? She shouldn’t even know the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.

From Where Roses Grow Wild by Patricia Cabot, set in 1860 England.

Tuesday Quote: Man doesn’t have time for this sh*t

You know, every now and then you hear something in a Jersey accent that just makes you feel good?

(This is me, playing stenographer on the train.)

Guy on Transit:

You know, I just put my dog down and I didn’t have to hear that shit from [friend Chris]. He’s just talking about his extramarital affair — like, he’s cheating on his wife, and you know, his KID knows about the mistress. His kid goes — I’m not lyin’  — “who is she and why can’t I tell Mommy?”  You shouldn’t tell your kid that shit. Why do something like that to an innocent kid? Why do that to your old lady? When I mess up, I take full fuckin’ responsibility. But Chris … he’s in some bullshit fog. He don’t know shit about nothing. If you want to be an asshole, don’t get married. Nobody holds it against you.

Can I just say … awesome?

Rachel Maddow is Teh Awesome

[...] my favorite Rachel Maddow story involves my daughter and her first Barbie Doll.

Rachel came to my daughter’s third birthday party, and presented my daughter with a blonde haired Barbie with it’s hair cropped short and dressed in a Ken Doll Tuxedo.

Rachel referred to her as “Barbie in comfortable shoes”.

My daughter loved that Barbie doll, and the graduates at Smith College loved Rachel Maddow on Sunday.

– Scott Coen

You all should give Maddow’s speech a watch, here. I loved the analogy to Carrie Nation’s stupidity — it was such an apt message, all of it, and there’s nothing about this woman that I do not absolutely love.

Love & Gambling

I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as most people, being always excited; women, wine, fame, the table, even ambition, sate now & then, but every turn of the card & cast of the dice keeps the gambler alive.

Lord Byron, Letters and Journals