I got a fortune cookie that said, "To remember is to understand." I have never forgotten it. A good judge remembers what it was like to be a lawyer. A good editor remembers being a writer. A good parent remembers what it was like to be a child. Anna Quindlen More Quotes by Anna Quindlen More Quotes From Anna Quindlen The one thing that I always got positive reinforcement for from teachers, who really changed my life, was the written word. Anna Quindlen reinforcement changed teacher If you want something, it will elude you. If you do not want something, you will get ten of it in the mail. Anna Quindlen elude-you elude-us want-something A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement. Anna Quindlen strong wisdom men Not writing at all leads to nothing. Anna Quindlen writing I stopped going to mass, and boy, it was painful for me, and it was certainly painful for my family, but I just couldn't ratify their behavior and their decisions anymore by showing up on Sundays. Anna Quindlen sunday decision boys Get a life. A real life. Not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Anna Quindlen next real house Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them? Anna Quindlen strong mother children All parents should be aware that when they mock or curse gay people, they may be mocking or cursing their own child. Anna Quindlen gay children people For many years, despite what I thought were really punitive decisions about women in the church, I stayed and stayed and stayed. I kept saying to myself, "The Catholic church is my church, and by God, I'm going to stay here, despite what the hierarchy does." Anna Quindlen catholic decision years While we pay lip service to the virtues of reading, the truth is that there is still in our culture something that suspects those who read too much, whatever reading too much means, of being lazy, aimless dreamers, people who need to grow up and come outside to where real life is, who think themselves superior in their separateness. Anna Quindlen growing-up real reading Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over the dunes, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over a pond and a stand of pines. Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tried to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger. Anna Quindlen smell circles baby The great motherhood friendships are the ones in which two women can admit [how difficult mothering is] quietly to each other, over cups of tea at a table sticky with spilled apple juice and littered with markers without tops. Anna Quindlen apples motherhood two A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn't believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation. Anna Quindlen marriage believe lying Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won’t happen. We have to teach ourselves how to make room for them, to love them, and to live, really live. Anna Quindlen would-be life long Here is one of the worst things about having someone you love die: It happens again every single morning. Anna Quindlen someone-you-love worst morning All of us want to do well. But if we do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. Anna Quindlen done want inspiring I will never understand people who think that the way to show their righteous opposition to sexual freedom is to write letters full of filthy words. Anna Quindlen writing people thinking On the other hand, I think that Governor Romney has to worry that his turnout is going to be low, that he is not going to bring out the evangelicals, that he is not going to bring out the Tea Party stalwarts. If he does not, then it's pretty clear that he will lose the election. So I think turnout in key groups is going to be really, really key on Election Day. Anna Quindlen party keys thinking In a democratic society, the only treason is silence. Anna Quindlen treason democratic silence I always have music on unless I'm reading aloud, which I always do before I hand anything in. It's the only way to know if a sentence really works, without clunks or cul-de-sac clauses. Anna Quindlen reading hands way
