Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Tillie Olsen

Quote by Tillie Olsen

“And Tracy was young, just twenty, still wet behind the ears, and the old blinders were on him so he couldn't really see what was around and he believed the bull about freedomofopportunity and a chancetorise and ifyoureallywanttoworkyoucanalwaysfindajob and ruggedindividualism and something about pursuitofhappiness.”

Quote by Tillie Olsen

Create image

Author

Tillie Olsen
Tillie Olsen

Tillie Olsen (January 14, 1912 – January 1, 2007) was an American writer, feminist activist, and social critic. She is best known for her short story collection Tell Me a Riddle and her essay Silences, which focus on working-class women, motherhood, and the silences imposed on artistic creation. Born to Jewish immigrant parents in Omaha, Nebraska, Olsen left school at age 15 due to poverty and worked various manual jobs. Her writing career began late, but her profound depictions of marginalized lives made her a significant voice in 20th-century American literature. Her work influenced feminist literary criticism and inspired many women writers. more

You May Also Like

“Full-blooded democracy still remains a brave new experiment, the history of ancient Athens notwithstanding. It would be unwise to assume that its victory across the globe is inevitable, for democracy is not always a simple mode of governing. It is almost forgotten that one reason why in this century the world stood three times on the verge of chaos — during two world wars and one world depression — was that the leading democracies were almost as prone to accidents and blunders as were their authoritarian rivals.”

DemocracyGreat DepressionWorld Wars
Book:In Our Time: The Issues and The People of Our Century
Create image

“(but) for many in the city, the name Hoover had become a term of abuse. Hoover blankets were the sheets of old newspapers that the homeless wrapped themselves in to keep warm, Hoover leather was the cardboard they used to cover the holes in the soles of their shoes, and Hoover flags were their empty pants pockets turned inside out— the visible proof of their destitution as they held out their hands for alms. And at night they slept in Hoovervilles— shantytowns made of cardboard, tin, and scraps of broken wood.”

New York CityManhattanGreat Depression1929 2008 Depression2 0President Hoover
Book:The Palace at the End of the Sea
Create image

“People don't realize how easy they have it these days. Most kids have never known what it's like to go without anything. They want something, they get it. If there isn't enough money, they charge it. We never wanted anything because we never realized we could have anything. We never missed what we never had. Things were much simpler back then, and we were stronger for it. We worked together to keep the house in order, to put food on the table. We kept things going.”

Simple LivingGreat DepressionFrugality
Book:Clara's Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression
Create image

“In the spring of 1931, West African natives in the Cameroons sent New York $3.77 for relief for the "starving"; that fall Amtorgs's new York office received 100,000 applications for job in Soviet Russia. On a single weekend in April, 1932, the 'Ile de france' and other transatlantic liner carried nearly 4,000 workingmen back to Europe; in June, 500 Rhode Island aliens departed for Mediterranean ports.”

Great DepressionUsFdr
Book:Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940
Create image