The myth that everyone once read great literature is just a myth. Margaret Atwood More Quotes by Margaret Atwood More Quotes From Margaret Atwood I'm a novelist, and idle speculation is what novelists do. How odd to spend one's life trying to pretend that non-existent people are real: though no odder, I suppose, than what government bureaucrats do, which is trying to pretend that real people are non-existent. Margaret Atwood governmentrealpeople All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers come out at night. Darkness brings home fathers, with their real, unspeakable power. There is more to fathers than meets the eye. Margaret Atwood daughtermotherfather The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them. Margaret Atwood be-kindbearsway we lived in the gaps between the stories Margaret Atwood handmaids-talegapsstories I don't know why they are all so eager to be remembered. What good will it do them? There are some things that should be forgotten by everyone, and never spoken of again. Margaret Atwood rememberedshouldforgotten Like the trains, she's never on time and always departing. Margaret Atwood departingtrain All observations of life are harsh, because life is. I lament that fact, but I cannot change it. Margaret Atwood harshlife-isfacts The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one. Margaret Atwood keeping-secretssecretway We battled in secret, undeclared, and after a while I no longer fought back because I never won. The only defense was flight, invisibility. Margaret Atwood invisibilitydefensesecret They will not let you have peace, they don't want you to have anything they don't have themselves. Margaret Atwood wantpeace I planned my death carefully, unlike my life, which meandered along from one thing to another, despite my feeble attempts to control it. Margaret Atwood despiteone-thing expectation isn't the same as desire Margaret Atwood expectationsdesire And consider: it is loss to which everything flows, absence in which everything flowers Margaret Atwood flowflowerloss A language is everything you do. Margaret Atwood language They seemed to be able to choose. We seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a society dying of too much choice. Margaret Atwood ablechoicesdying Don't misunderstand me. I am not scoffing at goodness, which is far more difficult to explain than evil, and far more complicated. But sometimes it's hard to put up with. Margaret Atwood complicatedevilsometimes Even an obvious fabrication is some comfort when you have few others. Margaret Atwood fabricationobviouscomfort You shouldn't do that," said Laura. "You could set yourself on fire. Margaret Atwood lauraambitionfire I'm not senile," I snapped. "If I burn the house down it will be on purpose. Margaret Atwood senilepurposehouse I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will. Margaret Atwood accomplishmentmeanthinking
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