A lot of being a poet consists of willed ignorance. If you woke up from your trance and realized the nature of the life-threatening and dignity-destroying precipice you were walking along, you would switch into actuarial sciences immediately. Margaret Atwood More Quotes by Margaret Atwood More Quotes From Margaret Atwood I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one 'race' - the human race - and that we are all members of it. Margaret Atwood equalityracepeople There is no fool like an educated fool. Margaret Atwood educated-foolsfooleducated Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them. Margaret Atwood womenrelationshiplaughing In the end, we'll all become stories. Margaret Atwood endsstories When we're young, we like happy endings. When we're a little older, we think happy endings are unrealistic and so we prefer bad but credible endings. When we're older still, we realize happy endings aren't so bad after all. Margaret Atwood happy-endingslittlesthinking A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together. Margaret Atwood bad-assvoicesilence Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does. Margaret Atwood wallpatiencechildren Reality simply consists of different points of view. Margaret Atwood differentviewsreality I don't find the idea of sewing degrading. A thing is degrading when you are forced to do it, through economic reasons or through slavery or some other form of compulsion. Margaret Atwood economicslaveryreason There's the story, then there's the real story, then there's the story of how the story came to be told. Then there's what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too. Margaret Atwood real-storyrealstories Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I'm nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water. Margaret Atwood timewaterchildren Happiness is a garden walled with glass: there's no way in or out. In Paradise there are no stories, because there are no journeys. It's loss and regret and misery and yearning that drive the story forward, along its twisted road. Margaret Atwood regretjourneyloss And she finds it difficult to believe—that a person would love her even when she isn't trying. Trying to figure out what other people need, trying to be worthy. Margaret Atwood tryingbelievepeople The world is being run by people my age, men my age, with falling-out hair and health worries, and it frightens me. When the leaders were older than me I could believe in their wisdom, I could believe they had transcended rage and malice and the need to be loved. Now I know better. I look at the faces in newspapers, in magazines, and wonder: what greeds, what furies drive them on? Margaret Atwood runningbelievefall Show me a character totally without anxieties and I will show you a boring book. Margaret Atwood anxietycharacterbook The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love. Margaret Atwood valentines-daynameslove Lose your temper and you lose the fight. Margaret Atwood temperlosesfighting You can think clearly only with your clothes on. Margaret Atwood clothesinspiringthinking Debt is part of the human condition. Civilization is based on exchanges - on gifts, trades, loans - and the revenges and insults that come when they are not paid back. Margaret Atwood debtrevengecivilization The sands of time are quicksands ... so much can sink into them without a trace. Margaret Atwood without-a-tracesandtime
