“Our mythology tells us so much about fathers and sons. ... What do we know about mothers and daughters? ... Our power is so oblique, so hidden, so ethereal a matter, that we rarely struggle with our daughters over actual kingdoms or corporate shares. On the other hand, our attractiveness dries as theirs blooms, our journey shortens just as theirs begins. We too must be afraid and awed and amazed that we cannot live forever and that our replacements are eager for their turn, indifferent to our wishes, ready to leave us behind.” KnowsMatterHandsMotherTurnsFatherWishBehindsStruggleForeverJourneyShareSonReadyDaughterMythologyKingdomsCorporateIndifferentAmazedLive ForeverMother And DaughterOur DaughterReplacementsFather And SonAttractivenessEtherealReady To Leave Author:Anne Roiphe
“There is cruelty in divorce. There is cruelty in forced or unfortunate marriage. We will continue to cry at weddings because we know how bittersweet, how fragile is the truth. We will always need legal divorce just as an emergency escape hatch is crucial in every submarine. No sense, however, in denying that after every divorce someone will be running like a cat, tin cans tied to its tail: spooked and slowed down.” KnowsNeedsRunningKnow HowCryCatDivorceCrueltyCrucialFragileTiedUnfortunateTailsEmergenciesBittersweetTinSubmarinesTin Cans Author:Anne Roiphe
“I know that family life in America is a minefield, an economic trap for women, a study in disappointment for both sexes.” KnowsAmericaSexFamilyStudyEconomicDisappointmentTrapsFamily LifeMinefields Author:Anne Roiphe
“How deep is our desire to do better than our mothers--to bring daughters into adulthood strong and fierce yet loving and gentle, adventurous and competitive but still nurturing and friendly, sweet yet sharp. We know as working women that we can't quite have it all, but that hasn't stopped us from wanting it all for them.” KnowsStillsMotherDesireStrongWorkSweetDaughterGentleFriendlyFierceAdulthoodAdventurousNurturingWorking Women Author:Anne Roiphe
“Is it possible that my sons-in-law will do toilets? If we raise boys to know that diapers need to be changed and refrigerators need to be cleaned, there's hope for the next generation.” IfsKnowsNeedsLawNextBoysGenerationsChangedSonRaisesMy SonToiletsNext GenerationIn-lawsHouseworkRefrigeratorsDiapers Author:Anne Roiphe
“I feel that the world needs writers. We need to know what's really going on.” KnowsWorldNeedsFeels Author:Anne Roiphe
“My mother had died when I wrote my first book. I was twenty-seven, so it was right at the beginning of my writing life. I don't know if she had lived, if I would have done it, certainly not quite like I did. But, you can't rethink it. You wrote what you wrote, it meant something to other people, and that's your good.” PeopleIfsKnowsWritingFirstsBookDoneMotherDiedTwentiesSevenWriting Life Author:Anne Roiphe
“We also have to make sure our children know the history of women. Tell them the rotten truth: It wasn't always possible for women to become doctors or managers or insurance people. Let them be armed with a true picture of the way we want it to be.” PeopleKnowsWayWantChildrenDoctorsOur ChildrenManagersRotten Author:Anne Roiphe
“I have always been fascinated by the human mind, conscious and unconscious - that is what writing and reading is about, too. The why of your life and the why of your choices and the what has happened that you know and the what that you don't know is really riveting, and psychoanalysts share my wonder at how it all unfolds.” KnowsWritingMindHumansChoicesReadingWonderHappenedShareConsciousUnconsciousHuman MindFascinatedWriting And ReadingConscious And Unconscious Author:Anne Roiphe
