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Erica Jong

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Famous Erica Jong Quotes

“Feminism is really the right of women to be full human beings and to not be defined only by their childbearing function. Feminism is really the right of women to be human beings. That's it, yet that's so frightening to a lot of people. A full human being wants satisfying work and love. A full human being is entitled to both, and is not simply defined by only one aspect of her being.”

PeopleWantHumansHuman BeingsFeminismAspectAnd LoveFunctionDefinedSatisfyingFrighteningEntitledChildbearingWork And LoveSatisfying Work
Author:Erica Jong
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“The desire for magic cannot be eradicated. Even the most supposedly rational people attempt to practice magic in love and war. We simultaneously possess the most primitive of brain stems and the most sophisticated of cortices. The imperatives of each coexist uneasily.”

PeopleWarDesireBrainPracticeMagicRationalPrimitiveSophisticatedStemImperativesCoexistLove And War
Book:What Do Women Want?: Essays by Erica Jong
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“[Henry Miller] was such a scribomaniac that even when he lived in the same house as Lawrence Durrell they often exchanged letters. For most of his life, Henry wrote literally dozens of letters a day to people he could have easily engaged in conversation - and did. The writing process, in short, was essential. As it is to all real writers, writing was life and breath to him. He put out words as a tree puts out leaves.”

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Author:Erica Jong
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“I understand that unless you have a government of laws, rather than a government of people, you cannot protect dissent. And I understand, as a woman who probably would have been burned in the marketplace for witchcraft only about 200 years ago, that I need the First Amendment more than anybody does. And that even if I am repelled by child pornography or Bob Guccione's productions, that I have to protect those things, because essentially it's in my self-interest to do so.”

PeopleIfsNeedsYearsFirstsChildrenDoeHas BeensSelfGovernmentLawInterestProtectYears AgoProductionsAmendmentsBobFree SpeechBurnedPornographySelf InterestMarketplaceDissentFirst AmendmentWitchcraft
Author:Erica Jong
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“I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was imperfect and ultimately absurd. What did I believe in then? In humor. In laughing at systems, at people, at one's self. In laughing even at one's need to laugh all the time. In seeing life as contradictory, many-sided, various, funny, tragic, and with moments of outrageous beauty. In seeing life as a fruitcake, including delicious plums and bad peanuts, but meant to be devoured hungrily all the same because you couldn't feast on the plums without also sometimes being poisoned by the peanuts.”

PeopleNeedsBelieveHumansSelfSometimesMomentsI BelieveLaughingSeeingIncludingVariousI Believe InAbsurdTragicMeant To BeImperfectDeliciousContradictoryOutrageousPeanutsPlumsFruitcake
Author:Erica Jong
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“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”

PeopleIfsWantLoveLifeInspirationalFightingLove IsInspiringMarriageRiskTroubleBraveTrue LoveInspirational LoveCynicalWant MeHippieCrackedYou Want MeSubversiveWorth Fighting ForNew RelationshipYour SoulmateDo You Want MeThose You LoveGift Of LoveWise LoveStrong LoveSoulmate LoveTrue Love Is ForeverCynical LoveHippiThings Worth Fighting ForFlames And LoveBridal ShowerFear Of FlyingWanted To Be LovedFighting For LoveReason And LoveI Want To Love YouIf You Really Love SomeoneDon't Believe In LoveIf You Truly Love Someone
Author:Erica Jong
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“No one to blame! That was why most people led lives they hated, with people they hated. How wonderful to have someone to blame! How wonderful to live with one's nemesis! You may be miserable, but you feel forever in the right. You may be fragmented, but you feel absolved of all the blame for it. Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”

PeopleFeelsMayHandsHappensHateForeverWonderfulTerribleBlameMiserableHatedTerrible ThingsFragmentedNemesisBlame Someone
Author:Erica Jong
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