I saw my ex-husband in the street. I was sitting on the steps of the new library. Hello, my life, I said. We had once been married for twenty-seven years, so I felt justified. He said, What? What life? No life of mine. Grace Paley More Quotes by Grace Paley More Quotes From Grace Paley I read a lot. I liked a tremendous number of poets and writers. The person whose work I liked the most was Joyce. Grace Paley joyce poet numbers My family were Russian Jews. They got you to read as soon as you could. And then assumed you would read a lot. People didn't really tell stories but they were good talkers. That's important for a writer, to hear speakers. Grace Paley important stories people I should have written more. I should have written more during the period when I just liked so much doing the political work in the streets. Grace Paley political periods should-have My vocabulary is adequate for writing notes and keeping journals but absolutely useless for an active moral life. Grace Paley vocabulary useless writing I was fortunate that by the time I was born, there were a lot of comforts and at the same time I lived in a neighborhood where it was brought to my eyes every single day that people didn't live like me. Every day I knew that many of my friends "got relief." That was important in my thinking about the world, thinking that not everybody lived that way. Grace Paley eye people thinking My mother went to demonstrations. I remember her going to a big demonstration for Earl Brower and she came home crying and said the Communists were very mean and booed their people. I remember feeling sad at her feeling sad. Grace Paley mother home mean The women's movement was coming, but I didn't know it in 1956-1957, when I began to write. Grace Paley movement knows writing I was a fantastic student until ten, and then my mind began to wander. Grace Paley fantasy students mind Write from what you know into what you don't know. Grace Paley crafts knows writing I don't believe civilization can do a lot more than educate a person's senses. Grace Paley education philosophy believe Paul Goodman was not ahead of his time but IN his time. Grace Paley goodman No metaphor reinvents the job of the nurture of children except to muddy or mock. Grace Paley metaphor jobs children It's a terrible thing to die young. Still, it saves a lot of time. Grace Paley terrible stills young I'm really sorry for people growing up right now, because they have some cockeyed idea that they can get by with their eyes closed; the cane they're tapping is money, and that won't take them in the right direction. Grace Paley growing-up eye sorry I was a woman writing at the early moment when small drops of worried resentment and noble rage were secretly, slowly building into the second wave of the women's movement. I didn't know my small-drop presence or usefulness in this accumulation. Grace Paley woman moment women building A relationship with young people is very important to me. It's important to have a sense of what's going on in their world and not just in my own. So the opportunity teaching provides is a gift. Grace Paley me opportunity relationship people What I generally tell a class is that if you're not interested in anybody else's work but your own, take another class. Grace Paley your own you work I see women as oppressed, but I don't see them as victims; I see them rising all the time. I see them as very strong. Grace Paley see women strong time Poets take themselves very seriously. Grace Paley themselves seriously very take What I'm interested in doing in a story is bringing certain different languages, people, events together and then letting the reader make what he wants of it. Grace Paley doing story together people
