fame is merely the fact of being misunderstood by millions of people.

Murky language means someone wants to pick your pocket.

All my forebears worked for a living. My grandfather painted portraits. My mother too. My aunt painted seascapes.

Loving someone is a loss of freedom - but one doesn't think of it as loss because one gains so much else.

It is a sad paradox that when male authors impersonate women ... they are said to be dealing with 'cosmic, major concerns' - but when we impersonate ourselves we are said to be writing 'women's fiction' or 'women's poetry.

I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.

Women tend to be preservers of the social structure, of marriage. They don't want to upset their husbands or their significant others. They don't want to hurt people.