For moderns - for us - there is something illicit, it seems, about wasted time, the empty hours of contemplation when a thought unfurls, figures of speech budding and blossoming, articulation drifting like spent petals onto the dark table we all once gathered around to talk and talk, letting time get the better of us. _Just taking our time_, as we say. That is, letting time take us. "Can you say," I once inquired of a sixty-year old cloistered nun who had lived (vibrantly, it seemed) from teh age of nineteen in her monastery cell, "what the core of contemplative life is?" "Leisure," she said, without hesitation, her china blue eyes cheerfully steady on me. I suppose I expected her to say, "Prayer." Or maybe "The search for God." Or "Inner peace." Inner peace would have been good. One of the big-ticket items of spirituality. She saw I didn't see. "It takes time to do this," she said finally. Her "this" being the kind of work that requires abdication from time's industrial purpose (doing things, getting things). By choosing leisure she had bid farewell to the fevered enterprise of getting-and-spending whereby, as the poet said, we lay waste our powers.
Patricia Hampl
Related She came towards me with a juicy gash between her legs that smelled like my best friend's sister" DAVE MATTHES I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me... She showed me her room, isn't it good, ... NORWEGIAN WOOD (THE BEATLES) Then, slowly, my feet settled to the ground. Before I had taken six steps I sagged like a sail when ... PATRICK ROTHFUSS I said, I want to tell you something. She said, you can tell me tomorrow. I had never told... JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER Power Living in the earth-deposits of our history Today a backhoe divul... ADRIENNE RICH Aren't you frightened?" Somehow I expected her to say no, to say something wise like a grownup... NICHOLAS SPARKS Sick of body, unable to rise up, vehemently intoxicated without wine . . . And it is as t... AL-MUTANABBī Do you like flowers, Lady Eleanor?" It was him speaking. Lord Blunt. Asking her opinion on some... MEGAN FRAMPTON I can’t even handle love, there’s no way I can handle it being taken away. I won’t survive it.... B.J. NOVAK Once, she'd been a pro at decompressing, loved to sit on the back deck of the beach house ... SARAH DESSEN I told you everything I know", said the messenger. Arin had gone to his childhood suite, feeling anx... MARIE RUTKOSKI How would you like it if I said to you, 'It kills me to say this, but you're actually a tiny bit bea... MELINA MARCHETTA What do you want to show me?" "Nothing, really. I just want to be alone with you for a mi... RAINBOW ROWELL I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. Write, for instance: "The night is full of ... PABLO NERUDA So what's your doll's name?" Boo asked me. "Barbie," I said. "All their names are Barbie." SARAH DESSEN Dear Deborah, Words do not come easily for so many men. We are taught to be strong, to... LISA WINGATE There was a few seconds' pause. Then Amit said: I meant, what were you thinking just now. VIKRAM SETH There is something of yours I would like to return to you." "What?" He leaned across the d... HOLLY BLACK 'Sugar, aint you ever had no good time?' she said with a bit of sadness in her voice. 'What y... BERNICE L. MCFADDEN She knew it was time, What for was the mystery but focused; she remained. She turne... NIKKI ROWE The multicolored kitten snuggled between her breasts. Lucky cat. "I thought ma... CANDIS TERRY When God Created Mothers" When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth ... ERMA BOMBECK Stop! Stop!” Sophie shrieked with laughter as she ran down the stone steps that led to the g... JULIA QUINN Sweet Grace amazes me The way that she can see Beyond the man I am To the man that I ... JASON GRAY I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser Fo... ROBERT BROWNING HAMILTON Seven times I have despised my soul: The first time when I saw her being meek that she might at... KAHLIL GIBRAN The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; WILLIAM WORDSWORTH She made a sound of regret. ‘We come second, you and I, Luc-ien,’ she said. ‘Our allegiance is... MELINA MARCHETTA Do you love him?” I jumped out of my skin. She was standing right beside me. “Who?” JULIE ANNE PETERS Everyone has always said I look like Bailey, but I don't. I have grey eyes to her green, a... JANDY NELSON She lends her pen, to thoughts of him, that flow from it, in her solitary. LANG LEAV A pause. Then she said: "Tell me, Noah, what do you remember most from the summer we spent together?... NICHOLAS SPARKS She tossed her towel on her dresser and turned to the bed where shed left her PJs. Only it wasn't ju... C.C. HUNTER The door opened, and it was like an apparition materializing before me, some sort of heavenly m... RICHELLE MEAD For the Wife Beater's Wife With blue irises her face is blossomed. Blue Circling to ... BRUCE WEIGL So there we were. Once upon a time, during the storybook version of dating we'd gone through, I'd pr... DAVID LEVITHAN Tonight I Can Write Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for e... PABLO NERUDA I was told The average girl begins to plan her wedding at the age of 7 She picks the color... RUDY FRANCISCO THIS IS WHY He will never be given to wonder much if he was the mouth for some cruel... MICHAEL RYAN Ophelia,' said the boy. He said it very quietly. She didn't like the way he said that at all. He sou... KAREN FOXLEE What did she say to you?" "Nothing." "Oh, great. I have to try to get you out of this mess... MELINA MARCHETTA Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example,'The night is shattered an... PABLO NERUDA She can sense things . . . Things the rest of us can't.She only knew there was a strange feel to you... RICHELLE MEAD Nothing before you counts," he said. "And I can't even imagine an after." She shook her ... RAINBOW ROWELL Love Sorrow Love sorrow. She is yours now, and you must take care of what has... MARY OLIVER I'd been making desicions for days. I picked out the dress Bailey would wear forever- a bl... JANDY NELSON When, some months later, Zoltan emailed me about his decision to run for president, I immediately ca... MARK O'CONNELL Leisure What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and star... W.H. DAVIES Clay, did you ever love me?" I'm studying a billboard and say that I didn't hear what she said.... BRET EASTON ELLIS Nina Zenik, as soon as I figure out where you've put my knives, we're going to have words." LEIGH BARDUGO I want you,” she said. “Naked.” His nostrils flared as if he was soaking in the sc... NALINI SINGH It’s not her shape, her face, or her hair that makes her beautiful. Neither is it t... PIERRE ALEX JEANTY As I said, you have mistaken me for another. London is full of drab little peahens, sir. Now, then, ... CHARLOTTE FEATHERSTONE There's folly in her stride that's the rumor justified by lies I've seen her up close... DAVE MATTHES she is no longer the beautiful woman she was. she sends photos of herself sittin... CHARLES BUKOWSKI Why had peace given place so soon to turmoil? To two separate solitudes? Because peace had been with... MARY BALOGH I don’t want any money.” I put the wallet away. She said: “What are you going to do ... JONATHAN LATIMER In that case" Tessa said, feeling hot blood rise to her face,"I think I would prefer it if you calle... CASSANDRA CLARE Then Deborah stood at the wicket gate, the boundary, and there was a woman with outstretched hand, d... DAPHNE DU MAURIER I brush her hair out of her eyes and run my finger along the edge of her face. "I love you, Lake." COLLEEN HOOVER Adam ” Lori called loudly enough for me to hear her but not so loud that her voice would carry up ... JENNIFER ECHOLS She was like the sun, She knew her place in the world - She would shine again regardless... NIKKI ROWE It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen All dressed in white Going to the churc... CARRIE UNDERWOOD My name...my name is Mary. I'm here with a friend.' Rhage stopped breathing. His heart skipped ... J.R. WARD I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately Just... SYLVIA PLATH Why should I blame her that she filled my days With misery, or that she would of late Hav... W.B. YEATS But why did she come back and take her card away?" asked Miss Mackintosh. "I told Florence that Miss... E.F. BENSON She is standing just behind you. Just behind your right shoulder." In the silence of the woods,... TERRY PRATCHETT We can't lose you," she said after a few moments of awkward as hell silence. "You have to understand... JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT I just don't understand it," said Klaus, which was not something he said very often. Violet nod... LEMONY SNICKET All Julie has to do is explain to her friends that she's using it to individually seal each item tha... LEE GOLDBERG Your daughter is ugly. She knows loss intimately, carries whole cities in her belly. ... WARSAN SHIRE Be to her, Persephone, All the things I might not be; Take her head upon your knee. S... EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?” In her eagerness she did no... FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT I love you," he said. She looked up at him, her eyes shiny and black, then looked away. "... RAINBOW ROWELL She rides the sandworm of space! She guides through all storms Into the land of gentle win... FRANK HERBERT She is pissed off all the time,” he mumbled and I remained silent, letting him ramble. “She want... C.A. HARMS I’ll come back,” she promised. “I’ll always come back to you.” “I know,” he said ... TIFFANY REISZ She said the words, and then she had a strange moment of seeing them, hanging there over her head. <... KATE DICAMILLO Diana can read power levels,” Astrid said. “Did she ever…” Sam nodded. “She said the ... MICHAEL GRANT No problem," Gale replies. "I wake up ten times a night anyway." "To make sure Katniss is still... SUZANNE COLLINS Myrtle," Harry said slowly, "how am I supposed to breathe?" At this, Myrtle's eyes filled... J.K. ROWLING Books had always been a comfort to her. More than comfort. There were times when reading came close ... SARAH MORGAN I liked it. I liked her. And every time I saw her, she seemed more beautiful. ... WENDELIN VAN DRAANEN Ashryver eyes met her own, and she touched the face that was the other side of her fair coin. ... SARAH J. MAAS Failing and Flying" Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew. It's the same when lo... JACK GILBERT Is this seat taken?" The deep, gravelly voice jolted Noelle from her blood-thirsty thoughts. W... ELLE KENNEDY Movie. What's my favorite kind of movie?” “Is there a point to this?” “Please, Luc... KAITLIN SCOTT Oh, God," Lori said without looking at me, "what are they thinking, leaving the two of us alone out ... JENNIFER ECHOLS She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?" You'd probably ki... RICK RIORDAN She shook her head. 'Look. We both know life is short, Macy. Too short to waste a single second with... SARAH DESSEN While walking in a toy store The day before today, I overheard a Crayon Box With many thin... ANON. The Story of the Woman with Three Brothers" A woman once had three brothers. They all had... LISA SEE Did she say anything before she died?" he asked. "Yes," the surgeon said. "She said, 'Forgive h... SHERMAN ALEXIE I begged her, 'Please don't leave me stranded in the middle of some primitive zarking forest with no... DOUGLAS ADAMS She loved all the wolves behind her house, but she loved one of them most of all. And thi... MAGGIE STIEFVATER Sought we the Scrivani word-work of Surthur Long-lost in ledger all hope forgotten. Yet fa... PATRICK ROTHFUSS A woman in her thirties came to see me. As she greeted me, I could sense the pain behind her polite ... ECKHART TOLLE Her phone beeps and she pulls it out again. She frowns. I give her a side-eye. “Everyth... ASHLEY POSTON Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion. "I am dying of thirst," said Jill. "Then drink," said... C.S. LEWIS
More Patricia Hampl
Memoir is trustworthy and its truth assured when it seeks the relation of self to time, the piecing ... PATRICIA HAMPL I don't write about what I know: I write in order to find out what I know. PATRICIA HAMPL We carry our wounds and perhaps even worse, our capacity to wound, forward with us. If we learn not ... PATRICIA HAMPL A draft doesn't produce the people we need to satisfy our real manpower shortage. We need specia... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Clothes, thank God I can get them from designers. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ So struggling for work here has been very good for me, but it's also been very hard to handle re... PATRICIA VELASQUEZ You need a routine, to be able to spend some time with a person, and my lifestyle is constantly on t... PATRICIA VELASQUEZ I live in New York and I was only there for 2 weeks all last year. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ There was a time when I used to live in Spain that it went really crazy with drugs and stuff like th... PATRICIA VELASQUEZ OK, I've been very wild, but I've never really been the sort of person who goes that crazy! PATRICIA VELASQUEZ I enjoyed working as a model a lot as it let me travel and I got to do some really interesting proje... PATRICIA VELASQUEZ I think if I could have a boyfriend like my brothers I'd be really happy. But without the brothe... PATRICIA VELASQUEZ I used to be a dancer, and for me it was a really good combination of dance and acting. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ It takes one person to give you a big chance. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ If I need something, even a pair of socks, my assistant has to get them for me. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ Every time you play a bad girl or guy in a movie, you really come from a place of pain. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ If there is one creature that represents my essence, it's butterflies. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ Always work hard, be honest, and be proud of who you are. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ I have no doubt I was someone very interesting in a past life. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ Thank God I had all these family values or who knows where I'd be now. PATRICIA VELASQUEZ You can't take sides when you know the earth is round. PATRICIA SUN There is only one thing keeping us from having heaven on earth: we can't believe it! Why? Becaus... PATRICIA SUN Nothing will ensure war more certainly or entrench rivalries more seriously than for or against thin... PATRICIA SUN We mostly feel fearful because we feel powerless. We feel powerless, I contend, because of a style o... PATRICIA SUN We have magnificent brains, but we use a great deal of our brilliance to keep ourselves stuck and ig... PATRICIA SUN When we don't have information, we go to the simplest outlook, to black and white. But then we h... PATRICIA SUN The discoveries of how we can grow and the insights we need to have really come from the inside out.... PATRICIA SUN I could not find any way that we could really run the kind of campaign I wanted to run if we were ta... PATRICIA SCHROEDER I learned a lot about America and a lot about Pat Schroeder, and that's why I will not be a cand... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Registration is a World War II response, and we need a 1980 solution. PATRICIA SCHROEDER It's outrageous that many enlisted people qualify for food stamps because military salaries are ... PATRICIA SCHROEDER The Navy runs their process. The House of Representatives doesn't do anything about their proces... PATRICIA SCHROEDER One of the problems in the Navy is that tradition of being captain of the ship. And an awful lot of ... PATRICIA SCHROEDER When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, 'What choice do I have?' PATRICIA SCHROEDER Spine transplants are what we really need to take Reagan on. PATRICIA SCHROEDER You measure a government by how few people need help. PATRICIA SCHROEDER The mood of the 80s - Get what you can, can what you get, and sit on the can. PATRICIA SCHROEDER If the search engines don't respect the creators, there won't be anything to search in the f... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Nobody ever says to men, how can you be a Congressman and a father. PATRICIA SCHROEDER The only study that the federal government has engaged in with a vengeance is in trying to see if th... PATRICIA SCHROEDER When men talk about defense, they always claim to be protecting women and children, but they never a... PATRICIA SCHROEDER I have a brain and a uterus and I use both. PATRICIA SCHROEDER My entire history with the Navy have been trying to get the Navy to focus on families and child care... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Lobbying is a legitimate profession... Many congressional spouses act as lobbyists. PATRICIA SCHROEDER The Pledge of Allegiance says, 'liberty and justice for all'. PATRICIA SCHROEDER We're going through the Olympics. We're watching women working as teams. We're watching ... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Traditional copyright has been that you can't make a full copy of somebody's work without th... PATRICIA SCHROEDER Many women have more power than they recognize, and they're very hesitant to use it, for they fe... PATRICIA SCHROEDER I love the Kathryn Bigelow example: she didn't just do war movies - she did them better than oth... PATRICIA RIGGEN Every single line, every single thing has to be fought over. There's kind of like an intrinsic d... PATRICIA RIGGEN I am grateful that I'm working, but I also have to say I've worked really, really hard and h... PATRICIA RIGGEN I have worked steadily since I started, but things are very hard for women and need to change. PATRICIA RIGGEN The problem of working in a mine, you are inside the belly of the monster, and it controls you. The ... PATRICIA RIGGEN There are a lot of female directors in documentary, very talented. But it's always lower budget. PATRICIA RIGGEN The idea that women compete or don't like each other or undermine each other or sabotage each ot... PATRICIA RIGGEN I have a handicap in that English is not my first language. So even though I'm a writer, I don... PATRICIA RIGGEN Directors only have instinct to work out of, because there is no formula. Formulas don't work. A... PATRICIA RIGGEN I think the three Mexican directors - Alejandro Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro - gave ... PATRICIA RIGGEN I do find that it's easier to get Latino-themed movies... but I don't think there's that... PATRICIA RIGGEN I think the three Mexican directors that came before me did a very good job in Hollywood because the... PATRICIA RIGGEN I love getting people's opinion of what I'm doing. PATRICIA RIGGEN I wish I had seen some women directing before - that would have given me the idea of who I was. PATRICIA RIGGEN I finally, you know, moved to Mexico City, where the film industry is. I started working there as a ... PATRICIA RIGGEN If your film is in English, it makes it that much easier to get a wide release. PATRICIA RIGGEN I am tired of having to prove myself constantly, even after being hired. Every single day, every sin... PATRICIA RIGGEN I like making movies that people feel inspired by, a film that they will think about a few days afte... PATRICIA RIGGEN The only thing I have is instinct and intuition and just staying very, very connected to the moments... PATRICIA RIGGEN I have years of saying ideas that are not listened to. Then, weeks after, of producers finding out t... PATRICIA RIGGEN I went to New York City to Columbia University, and with the first directing exercise, I knew I was ... PATRICIA RIGGEN It never crossed my mind to be a director, and I'll tell you why: because I'm a woman. It ju... PATRICIA RIGGEN I've always seen movies in English with Spanish subtitles. For audiences around the world, the l... PATRICIA RIGGEN Chile's mines are very dangerous; the country has a lot of earthquakes. PATRICIA RIGGEN When I was in college, my graduation thesis was called 'Female Directors.' I interviewed all... PATRICIA RIGGEN It's a very tricky relationship, the cinematographer and the director as a woman. PATRICIA RIGGEN I didn't want to do comedy again. It is way harder when you are doing comedy. You can't just... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I had been a real problem child, but once I got into acting, my parents never had any more trouble w... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Television is a real woman's medium... but what's disturbing is, still even in television, w... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Part of the whole L.A. mentality that nothing really matters unless it's a success... is such a ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I always hated perfect TV moms because I always thought that was unrealistic. PATRICIA RICHARDSON Good actresses can often accomplish miracles, and it is possible to be someone you've never been... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I know it's a lot harder for women who don't have enough help, but the truth is, no matter h... PATRICIA RICHARDSON It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these i... PATRICIA RICHARDSON You have to be the parent; you can't be their friend. PATRICIA RICHARDSON I don't understand that, because I think that what people like most about the show is that they ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and the... PATRICIA RICHARDSON People who meet me think of Jill and transfer her strong qualities to me. PATRICIA RICHARDSON When you're a woman with a certain amount of fame and money, you are never certain what someone&... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I have born-again Christians in my family, and they are completely against abortion... Everybody'... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I kind of feel like people like to dump on 'Home Improvement,' and I don't know why. PATRICIA RICHARDSON I still get the kids to the doctor and dentist and plan their play dates and buy their clothes. PATRICIA RICHARDSON I've had so many horrible things happen in my life since I did 'Home Improvement' that i... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Losing their reproductive rights is the first step to how women live in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I live in such a sweet world in the world of 'Home Improvement' that I tend to be drawn to s... PATRICIA RICHARDSON I curse too much. I really do. I have a horrible cursing mouth. PATRICIA RICHARDSON I'd like us to deliver a little message to all the men still out there who think it's the ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Tim on the show does a lot of that posturing, of course, and feels sort of threatened by women. But ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON But then my mother, who's a very selfless, stoic person from a family of Marines, would tell us ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON The truth is, I've been going pretty much nuts all year. I constantly have to fight being scatte... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Getting married and then having children just centered me and grounded my values. It was like a whol... PATRICIA RICHARDSON Instead of yelling and spanking, which don't work anyway, I believe in finding creative ways to ... PATRICIA RICHARDSON A family is really a union of two separate entities. When you get married, you are marrying one fami... PATRICIA RAE One of the first things that I did was, I got myself a publicist as soon as 'Maria Full of Grace... PATRICIA RAE You don't always necessarily see eye to eye with the people that you are getting married into yo... PATRICIA RAE I don't know if my work is a concerted effort to make kids sad! PATRICIA POLACCO My family always encouraged my drawing ability. Kids in school who teased me about my reading would ... PATRICIA POLACCO I don't believe being gay is something you can change, no more than you can change the color of ... PATRICIA POLACCO I have been in more classrooms than any legislator will ever walk into in their lives, and I see won... PATRICIA POLACCO I wasn't a very good student in elementary school and had a hard time with reading and writing. PATRICIA POLACCO I lived the first five years of my life on a farm in Union City, Michigan, with my mom and grandpare... PATRICIA POLACCO I came from a family of incredible storytellers, but I didn't start writing children's books... PATRICIA POLACCO Show me an Irishman who can't tell a story - I don't think they exist. PATRICIA POLACCO My books cover many aspects of daily life through which your children will recognize their own relat... PATRICIA POLACCO Now, I've got to tell you: 'In Our Mothers House,' I don't think is for a kindergart... PATRICIA POLACCO When you come from a family of storytellers, you're doomed. You just have to tell stories. PATRICIA POLACCO My stories are fundamentally about the love of family. PATRICIA POLACCO My stories deal with multicultural situations as well as multigenerational settings. PATRICIA POLACCO When I was growing up, we never had much money. My parents were divorced young, but I was always sur... PATRICIA POLACCO I used to say to my bubbe, 'Bubbe, is this story true?' And she'd say, 'Of course it... PATRICIA POLACCO Until we learn to honor and respect what other people believe, I think we are doomed. PATRICIA POLACCO Maybe one of you can enlighten me, but I just don't understand why it is so hard to be kind to o... PATRICIA POLACCO I didn't learn to read until I was almost 14 years old. Reading out loud for me was a nightmare ... PATRICIA POLACCO What I loved the most about Oakland was that all of my neighbors came in as many colors, ideas, and ... PATRICIA POLACCO I believe with all my heart that the American classroom teachers are one of our greatest and most he... PATRICIA POLACCO My parents were divorced when I was three, and both my father and mother moved back into the homes o... PATRICIA POLACCO I don't know if my work is a concerted effort to make kids sad! But life and death go hand in ha... PATRICIA POLACCO I don't care what color the parents are. I don't care if it's a giraffe and a fish livin... PATRICIA POLACCO Be kind to one another. You may need each other when you are older. PATRICIA POLACCO Living through the heat in Louisiana was awful. PATRICIA NORRIS I think people live in the past and tend to look that way, because they drop off when they're ha... PATRICIA NORRIS As a costume designer, I first try to figure out what the character's economic situation is and ... PATRICIA NORRIS When you call upon a Thoroughbred, he gives you all the speed, strength of heart and sinew in him. W... PATRICIA NEAL I may be a dumb blonde, but I'm not that blonde. PATRICIA NEAL Whatever a person's politics, lawyers have to understand that we are, for most people, the gatew... PATRICIA MILLETT What makes for a good argument, at bottom, is being more prepared than anyone else in that courtroom... PATRICIA MILLETT I do try very hard to develop themes that are easily understood and that, hopefully, will paint vivi... PATRICIA MILLETT I do not need any cheerleaders at my moot court. And I cannot imagine walking into that Court withou... PATRICIA MILLETT I try to do two moot courts for every Supreme Court case (and one to two for courts of appeals), and... PATRICIA MILLETT While I have the greatest respect for the Supreme Court's members, I cannot claim familiarity wi... PATRICIA MILLETT I certainly have a pretty settled pattern at this point of what I do substantively in terms of revie... PATRICIA MILLETT My son jokes with me that he thinks I Google the word 'sad' to come up with book ideas. PATRICIA MCCORMICK I don't want to go slumming in somebody else's pain just to write a book. I want to go into ... PATRICIA MCCORMICK The power of storytelling is to free us from isolation, shame, and whatever the situation. PATRICIA MCCORMICK High heels weren't always a girl thing. In the fifteen-hundreds, the riding shoes of French nobl... PATRICIA MARX New York is rich in culture, cuisine, and commerce. PATRICIA MARX I do not find the concept of consorting with unknown persons appealing. PATRICIA MARX I don't really care that much about eating. But I like impressing people with how good a cook I ... PATRICIA MARX I think I began to like writing a lot more, and to be a better writer, when I did it for a while alo... PATRICIA MARX Unless you're a salesman, or a bad guest on a talk show, you don't call someone by his name ... PATRICIA MARX Everyone thinks that 'Chinatown' is the best screenplay. I'm not sure it is. PATRICIA MARX For somebody who is a journalist, I can be awfully unobservant sometimes. PATRICIA MARX I'm a goody-goody. I'm the person who sits in the back row, makes fun of the teacher, and se... PATRICIA MARX I write the shopping column. I think I've proven my superficiality. PATRICIA MARX Being serious just makes me a little bit embarrassed. PATRICIA MARX The Chinese are no slouches when it comes to capitalism. PATRICIA MARX It's better to spend a lot on a getup you love than a fraction of that on something, or even fiv... PATRICIA MARX Males have probably always enjoyed watching the defeat of other males, but without the invention of ... PATRICIA MARX Perhaps the most mysterious of all mammals is the male Homo sapiens. Indeed, many anthropologists cl... PATRICIA MARX 'Couch surfing' refers to the practice of temporarily lodging with a stranger - free of char... PATRICIA MARX Men still wear cologne, but I wish they wouldn't. No matter what you may believe, all men's ... PATRICIA MARX One false word, one extra word, and somebody's thinking about how they have to buy paper towels ... PATRICIA MARX New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn't even sit down, and not just bec... PATRICIA MARX Looking back, I see that I write books about brothers and sisters, about what makes up a family, wha... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN My inspiration for writing is all the wonderful books that I read as a child and that I still read. ... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I can always tell when I'm about to start writing. I go through cycles in reading. When I'm ... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN Being married to a psychologist, I realize that I learn more from imperfections. PATRICIA MACLACHLAN Each time I write a new piece, whether a novel, a picture book, a speech or anything, really, it has... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I think it's important to remember where I began. I know that when I talk to other writers, say,... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN In a way, my childhood was one long bunch of pages... I read and read and read. PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I never work from an outline, and often I don't know how the story will end. PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I'm working on a bunch of things with my daughter Emily. In some ways, she's a smarter and b... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I have great respect for children. And I have great respect for their ability as writers. PATRICIA MACLACHLAN My mother, as a girl, had remembered this woman from Maine, someone who was part of the extended fam... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I have great editors, and I always have. Somehow, great editors ask the right questions or pose thin... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I think what happens is you write how you grew up. And I was born on the prairie, and so everything ... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I have to write what I can write, and writing the text of a picture book is like walking a tightrope... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I love to talk to children about making mistakes. It's important that I tell them about how I do... PATRICIA MACLACHLAN I always doubted myself. I doubted the way I looked, my body, my voice - everything. PATRICIA KAAS When you lose your mother at 20 and then your father soon after, melancholia is part of your life. PATRICIA KAAS People tried to make me something that I wasn't at the beginning of my career. PATRICIA KAAS When you are 25 or even 30, you can just do things. When you get to 35, things are different. Time i... PATRICIA KAAS I am not sad, but I am melancholic. When you lose your mother at 20 and then your father soon after,... PATRICIA KAAS Sometimes, I wake up and the skies are grey and everything's horrible. PATRICIA KAAS Violence may be a good focus to organize around, but we have to look at women's lives in our ent... PATRICIA IRELAND And of course we are familiar with the English common law rule of thumb that said a man could in fac... PATRICIA IRELAND We always knew when we took on the issue of violence against women that somehow our opposition would... PATRICIA IRELAND We have to stop this violence. We have to make the political nature of the violence clear, that the ... PATRICIA IRELAND We may be in a tough time right now, but when we are in a tough time is when our movement gets reall... PATRICIA IRELAND They plan to ride into the White House on the Sweet Talk Express. Well, think again. Bush and Cheney... PATRICIA IRELAND Bush's choice of Dick Cheney as his running mate is clear confirmation of the policies he would ... PATRICIA IRELAND I have a very personal interest. I am a Miami-Dade voter. One of the issues is that my vote and so m... PATRICIA IRELAND Stewardesses are still paid so little that in many cases, new hires qualify for food stamps. PATRICIA IRELAND My answer to those who oppose my appointment as CEO is that this is really a decision of the YWCA. T... PATRICIA IRELAND I want to organize so that women see ourselves as people who are entitled to power, entitled to lead... PATRICIA IRELAND The opposition has moved from a blaming the victim to blaming the victim's advocate's statis... PATRICIA IRELAND Some campaigns are not worth waging if you can't win; others have to be fought on grounds of pri... PATRICIA IRELAND I've talked to law enforcement officials at the state and local level who say that violence agai... PATRICIA IRELAND Extremely strong, effective, tenacious, and powerful political networks can be built when you fight ... PATRICIA IRELAND The Young Women's Christian Association is nourished by its roots in Christianity and, at the sa... PATRICIA IRELAND Women are called upon to defend every bit of progress we have made against particularly virulent att... PATRICIA IRELAND The Violence Against Women Act is so important. It provides money to train the cop on the beat, to t... PATRICIA IRELAND