The dumbest childhood vow I ever made was to finish every book I started. Lionel Shriver More Quotes by Lionel Shriver More Quotes From Lionel Shriver I have no end of failings as a mother, but I have always followed the rules. Lionel Shriver failingendsmother How lucky we are, when we're spared what we think we want! Lionel Shriver luckywantthinking The good life doesn't knock on the door. Joy is a job. Lionel Shriver good-lifedoorsjobs I was mortified by the prospect of becoming hopelessly trapped in someone else's story. Lionel Shriver trappedbecomingstories The secret is that there is no secret. Lionel Shriver secret I have never in all my life considered you other people. Lionel Shriver people ...hoarders of guilty secrets are inevitably consumed with appearances. Lionel Shriver guiltyappearancesecret ...some people coddle their own afflictions the way others spoil small pedigreed dogs with cans of pate. Lionel Shriver afflictiondogpeople I realize it's commonplace for parents to say to their child sternly, 'I love you, but I don't always like you.' But what kind of love is that? It seems to me that comes down to, 'I'm not oblivious to you - that is, you can still hurt my feelings - but I can't stand having you around.' Who wants to be loved like that? Given a choice, I might skip the deep blood tie and settle for being liked. I wonder if wouldn't have been more moved if my own mother had taken me in her arms and said, 'I like you.' I wonder if just enjoying your kid's company isn't more important. Lionel Shriver hurtmotheri-like-you That boy hardly needed a mask when his naked face was already impenetrable. Lionel Shriver nakedfacesboys I am vain, or once was, and one of my vanities was to feign that I was not. Lionel Shriver vanityvain It is never persuasive to argue that you are not the kind of person who does what you are actually doing. Lionel Shriver kindarguingdoe Whoa, that's the kind of little sister I can dig!" said Edison. "Yes, we're all alike," I said. "We cover for you, we lie for you, we take the heat for you. We clean up your messes and mollify our parents for you. We never fail to come across with undying adoration, whether or not you deserve it, and we can't take our lives as seriously as yours. We snuffle up the crumbs from your table on the rare occasions you notice we're alive. Lionel Shriver little-sisterparentlying In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go to hell; the idea of countries and the idea of sons triumph for eternity. Lionel Shriver boyscountryson Secrets bind and separate in strict accordance with who's in them . Lionel Shriver strictsecret A successful lie cannot be brought into this world and capriciously abandoned; like any committed relationship, it must be maintained, and with far more devotion than the truth, which carries on being carelessly true without any help. Lionel Shriver successfullyingworld History is made of empires, and the United States was by far and away the greatest, richest, and fairest empire that had every dominated the earth. Inevitably, it would fall. Empires always did. But we were lucky, you said. We got to participate in the most fascinating social experiment ever attempted. Lionel Shriver united-statesluckyfall [Children] would have messed up my apartment. In the main, they are ungrateful. They would have siphoned too much time away from the writing of my precious books. Lionel Shriver writingbookchildren ...whenever a woman describes a man as sweet, the dalliance is doomed. Lionel Shriver doomedsweetmen I am in flight from my story every day, and it dogs me like a faithful stray. Lionel Shriver faithfuldogstories
