I Know That I Haven’t

More Than In Any Other Human Relationship, Overwhelmingly More, Motherhood Means Being Instantly Interruptible, Responsive, And Responsible

Better Mankind Born Without Mouths And Stomachs Than Always To Worry About Money To Buy, To Shop, To Fix, To Cook, To Wash, To Clean.

I Could Not Live By Literature If Only To Begin With, Because Of The Slow Maturing Of My Work And Its Special Character.

Compared To Men Writers Of Like Distinction And Years Of Life, Few Women Writers Have Had Lives Of Unbroken Productivity, Or Leave Behind A 'body Of Work.' Early Beginnings, Then Silence; Or Clogged Late Ones (foreground Silences); Long Periods Between Books (hidden Silences); Characterize Most Of Us.

Literature Is A Place For Generosity And Affection And Hunger For Equals - Not A Prizefight Ring. We Are Increased, Confirmed In Our Medium, Roused To Do Our Best, By Every Good Writer, Every Fine Achievement. Would We Want One Good Writer Or Fine Book Less? The Sense Of Writers Being Pitted Against Each Other Is Bred Primarily By The Workings Of The Commercial Marketplace, And By Critics Lauding One Writer At The Expense Of Another While Ignoring The Existence Of Nearly All.