“Awareness of the self is more acutely at the heart of things than it has ever been before. On the foundation of self-awareness alone rest all our hopes for a new politics, a new society, a revitalized life. If we do not genuinely know ourselves, the void will now, at last, surely rise up to meet us.” IfsKnowsHeartSelfLastsAwarenessSelf AwarenessFoundationVoid Book:Essays in feminism Source: Essays in feminism
“What you feel when you're writing is the relief of thinking: if you write the sentence correctly, you're clarifying. If you write the right sentence, nothing feels as good.” IfsThinkingFeelsWritingSentencesReliefClarifying Author:Vivian Gornick
“I don't know if memoirs can produce literary work of the first order. But I do know that novels are doing it only rarely.” IfsKnowsFirstsOrderNovelProduceMemoirLiterary Works Author:Vivian Gornick
“Love can't be a metaphor anymore. If you try to make literature out of it, it doesn't work.” IfsTryingLiteratureMetaphor Author:Vivian Gornick
“We all grew up so utterly vulnerable, enthralled by romantic love as we knew it. First of all, it was pounded into you every which way that you've got to get married and you've got to have babies. That you're not a natural woman if you don't. So that led to a lot of sitting by the telephone and waiting for a call. And that led you into a culture in which you were always in a subordinate position without realizing it; hamstrung, not able to take action. That was the most important thing: you were always waiting to be desired.” IfsWayFirstsImportantAbleActionCultureWaitingRealizingNaturalPositionBabyGrewMarriedGrew UpSittingImportant ThingsVulnerableRomantic LoveTelephonesSubordinatesAlways Waiting Author:Vivian Gornick
