Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual expression.

The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving.

we are the women our parents warned us against, and we are proud

Society certainly encourages women to be victims in every way. I mean if we want approval, we have to sing the blues, even as singers we sing the blues.

Most writers write to say something about other people - and it doesn't last. Good writers write to find out about themselves - and it lasts forever.

My father was the Jewish half of the family, yet it was my mother who taught me to have pride in that tradition.

... we've allowed a youth-centered culture to leave us so estranged from our future selves that, when asked about the years beyondfifty, sixty, or seventy--all part of the average human life span providing we can escape hunger, violence, and other epidemics--many people can see only a blank screen, or one on which they project fear of disease and democracy.