“ H.L. Mencken once said that Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be having a good time. As she looked down at her dead child, Mary Beth realized that the unbearable sense of lo… Anna Quindlen
“ In the family sandwich, the older people and the younger ones can recognize one another as the bread. Those in the middle are, for a time, the meat. Anna Quindlen
“ Our love of lockstep is our greatest curse, the source of all that bedevils us. It is the source of homophobia, xenophobia, racism, sexism, terrorism, bigotry of every variety and hue, because it tell… Anna Quindlen
“ People always blame the girl she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it. Anna Quindlen
“ I prize my downtime, count on it as a writer, a parent, a person. Sometimes I think of Woody Allen's remark about masturbation, that it is sex with someone he loves. I feel as though being alone is ha… Anna Quindlen
“ The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you'd never know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get f… Anna Quindlen
“ It's amazing how resilient people are, and how the things that didn't come true become,after a while, simply the way things are. Anna Quindlen
“ Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to tal… Anna Quindlen
“ Every story has already been told. Once you've read Anna Karenina, Bleak House, The Sound and the Fury, To Kill a Mockingbird and A Wrinkle in Time, you understand that there is really no reason to ev… Anna Quindlen
“ New York City has finally hired women to pick up the garbage, which makes sense to me, since, as I've discovered, a good bit of being a woman consists of picking up garbage. Anna Quindlen
“ I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much. Anna Quindlen
“ The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. Anna Quindlen
“ America is a country that seems forever to be toddler or teenager, at those two stages of human development characterized by conflict between autonomy and security. Anna Quindlen
“ I've discovered that sometimes writing badly can eventually lead to something better. Not writing at all leads to nothing. Anna Quindlen
“ The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that two people are incompatible that is one is male and the other female. Anna Quindlen
