Morals are private. Decency is public. Rita Mae Brown More Quotes by Rita Mae Brown More Quotes From Rita Mae Brown When the corpses are cleared no new order will emerge. Power, society, relationships, will descend in all their confusion on a new generation. The old, who started this conflagration, will retreat, worn out, the survivors and the young will continue the dance. Rita Mae Brown retreat confusion order Not until my middle thirties did I consider myself a novelist. Rita Mae Brown middle novelists Money and writing appear to be mutually exclusive. Rita Mae Brown exclusive writing many lesbians were so far in the closet they were in danger of being mistaken for garment bags. Rita Mae Brown bags sexuality danger If Michaelangelo were a heterosexual, the Sistine Chapel would have been painted basic white and with a roller. Rita Mae Brown chapel sexuality white Sport strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves. The great difference between sport and art is that sport, like a sonnet, forces beauty within its own system. Art, on the other hand, cyclically destroys boundaries and breaks free. Rita Mae Brown sports character art Aunt Mimi possessed a horror of silence, which she battled with endless chat. The Typhoid Mary of the Telephone started her calls at 6:30 each morning. Rita Mae Brown aunt morning talking What happens to children and families today who sit around the television? They're watching made-up stories. It's not their experience and it's not truly shared. A human being must learn at a very young age how to connect to other human beings. Our technologies are driving us apart, only connecting us in terms of information, not in terms of emotions. Rita Mae Brown made-up-stories technology children Tennis is physical chess. Rita Mae Brown tennis chess I believe every change any word has undergone probably originated in ignorance. Rita Mae Brown i-believe ignorance believe Adjectives are the curse of America. Rita Mae Brown curse adjectives america Writers are the moral purifiers of the culture. We may not be pure ourselves but we must tell the truth, which is a purifying act. Rita Mae Brown moral may culture sex has never been private and it never will be. We perform the act in private but we must be public about the connection. Sex is how we pass down worldly goods. It's how we create the primary unit of our society, the couple. ... This rule applies to gay people as well as straight people. ... The community absolutely must know who is straight, who is gay, who is married, and who is single. Without that information we make painful mistakes and lose time. Rita Mae Brown couple mistake sex Show me a writer, any writer, who hasn't suffered and I'll show you someone who writes in pastels as opposed to primary colors. Rita Mae Brown show-me color writing Content without style is propaganda or adolescence. Style without content is decadence. Rita Mae Brown decadence propaganda style I have changed my definition of tragedy. I now think tragedy is not foul deeds done to a person (usually noble in some manner) but rather that tragedy is irresolvable conflict. Rita Mae Brown deeds-done tragedy thinking I am a comic writer, which means I get to slay the dragons, and shoot the bull. Rita Mae Brown bulls dragons mean I think the reason I choose the comic approach so often is because it's harder, therefore affording me the opportunity to show off. Also, a comic vision is my natural world view, but I've grown up in spite of myself and I can pass the comic twist if it detracts from what the characters need. Yes, the life of a saint is hard. Rita Mae Brown opportunity character thinking Never let anyone or any social attitude stand in the way of your productivity. Rita Mae Brown social attitude way Never let money control you. I'd rather see someone spend every red cent and relish his/her life than scrimp, obsess, and pinch the pennies. There's something repugnant about a person who centers his life around money. Rita Mae Brown cents red pennies
