As long as the family and the myth of the family ... have not been destroyed, women will still be oppressed.

One is not conceived a lady, one turns into one.

The emancipation of women must be the work of women themselves, independent of the class struggle.

My worst mistake has been not grasping that time goes by. It was going by and there I was, set in the attitude of the ideal wife of an ideal husband. Instead of bringing our sexual relationship to life again I brooded happily over memories of our former nights together.

Oppression tries to defend itself by its utility.

Writing ... is a profession that can only be learned by writing.

The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength -each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence.