Men are not very good at loving, but they are experts at admiring and respecting; the woman who goes after their admiration and respect will often come out better than she who goes out after their love. Florence King More Quotes by Florence King More Quotes From Florence King Updike's style is an exquisite blend of Melville and Austen: reading him is like cutting through whale blubber with embroidery scissors. Florence King whales cutting reading In other countries, congenital introverts simply remain introverts all their lives, neither advancing nor retreating, but America's commitment to extroversion as a national art form can abrade some naturally aloof personalities until they flower into deadly nightshade. Florence King flower country art The joker in the deck of lesbian fidelity is female vanity: no woman of fifty is going to undress in front of a woman of twenty no matter how much she might lust for her. Florence King vanity twenties lust Americans respect talent only insofar as it leads to fame, and we reserve our most fervent admiration for famous people who destroy their lives as well as their talent. The fatal flaws of Elvis, Judy, and Marilyn register much higher on our national applause meter than their living achievements. In Amerca, talent is merely a tool for becoming famous in life so you can become more famous in death - where all are equal. Florence King achievement becoming people I do believe in reincarnation, but I do not believe there is life before noon. Florence King reincarnation noon believe Southerners are so devoted to genealogy that we see a family tree under every bush. Florence King genealogy devoted tree We worship education but hate learning. We worship success but hate the successful. We worship fame but hate the famous. Florence King learning hate successful The copyeditor I drew was a brachycephalic, web-footed cretin who should have been in an institution learning how to make brooms. Florence King brooms institutions should-have Let's bring back grandmothers! A real family consists of three generations. It's time Americans stopped worrying about interference and being a burden on the children and regrouped under one roof. Florence King grandma real children There is more sexism in a year's worth of movies than actually exists in a woman's entire lifetime. Florence King sexism lifetime years I don't mind being regarded as perverted and unnatural, but I would die if people thought I was a Democrat. Florence King political party people Time has lost all meaning in that nightmare alley of the Western world known as the American mind. We wallow in nostalgia but manage to get it all wrong. True nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories... but American-style nostalgia is about as ephemeral as copyrighted d?j? vu. Florence King style mind memories The confidence and security of a people can be measured by their attitude toward laxatives. At the high noon of the British sun, soldiers in far-flung outposts of the Empire doctored themselves with "a spoonful o' gunpowder in a cuppa 'ot tea." Purveyors and users of harsh laxatives were not afraid of being thought mean and unfriendly just because their laxatives were. But in America, the need to be nice is so consuming that nobody would dare take a laxative that makes you run up the stairs two at a time, pushing others aside and yelling, "Get out of the way! Florence King nice running attitude Familiarity breeds democracry. Florence King familiarity During the feminist seventies men were caught between a rock and a hard-on; in the fathering eighties they are caught between good hugs and bad hugs. Florence King rocks feminist men Any discussion of the problems of being funny in America will not make sense unless we substitute the word wit for humor. Humor inspires sympathetic good-natured laughter and is favored by the healing-power gang. Wit goes for the jugular, not the jocular, and it's the opposite of football; instead of building character, it tears it down. Florence King laughter healing football Resistance to team play seemed to pour like wet cement through my bones, displacing supple marrow, until I was ballasted with my own contempt. Florence King groups team play There is nothing wrong with "women's studies" that studying the right women can't cure, but feminist literary scholars have a penchant for dragging the rivers of deserved obscurity for third-rate neurotics. Florence King feminism feminist rivers We worship education but hate learning. Florence King hate worship Real feminism is spinsterhood. Florence King gender feminism real
