There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger. Anna Quindlen More Quotes by Anna Quindlen More Quotes From Anna Quindlen My home was in a pleasant place outside of Philadelphia. But I really lived, truly lived, somewhere else. I lived within the covers of books. Anna Quindlen somewhere-else home book Sometimes change came all at once, with a sound like a fire taking hold of dry wood and paper, with a roar that rose around you so you couldn't hear yourself think. And then, when the roar died down, even when the fires were damped, everything was different. Anna Quindlen change fire thinking And a great misunderstanding is that children think their parents are grown-up, and parents feel obliged to act as if they were. Anna Quindlen parent children thinking So you're getting squeezed at both sides. You're taking care of your mom and dad and you're still doing caregiving with your kids, which is not easy. But I think overall, there's a level of satisfaction that might be unparalleled. Anna Quindlen dad mom kids It often seems, looking back, that the unexpected comes to define us, the paths we didn't see coming and may have wandered down by mistake. The older we get the more willing we are to follow those, to surprise ourselves. Anna Quindlen path mistake may Uncontrollable consumerism has become a watchword of our culture despite regular and compelling calls for its end. The United States has more malls than high schools; Americans spend more time shopping than reading. ... Some of the most insightful writing about the American character over the nation's history has been about neither freedom nor democracy but about the crazed impulse to acquire things. Anna Quindlen reading writing school the more humdrum aspects of life do not make for gripping reading. To render them compelling, a writer must describe the universal in eloquent and evocative prose. Alas, Frey's writing suggests that this was not an option, and he came up with something else. Anna Quindlen gripping reading writing Women writers of all people should know better than to pigeonhole women, put them in little groups, the smart one, the sweet one. Anna Quindlen smart sweet people I do think that people who are now in their sixties and their seventies are living a different kind of life than their grandparents led, even in these tough times. A lot of them are more active, a lot of them are still working, which was not the case when our grandparents were in their sixties. Anna Quindlen grandparent people thinking the separation of church and state grew out of a desire, not so much to protect government from religion, but to protect religion from government. Anna Quindlen government church desire It's important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It's the expectations that parents have for their daughters, and their sons, too. It's the way we talk about and treat one another. It's who makes the money and who makes the compromises and who makes dinner. It's a state of mind. It's the way we live now. Anna Quindlen daughter motivational inspirational Over the last twenty years, we've changed the world just enough to make it radically different, but not enough to make it work. Anna Quindlen lasts twenties years Your hair isn't quite right and maybe you're a size bigger than you should be and on and on and on. I think there comes a moment when you've matured to the point where you suddenly think, nonsense. I am fine just the way I am. Anna Quindlen hair way thinking The truth about your own life is not always easy to accept, and sometimes hasn't even occurred to you. Anna Quindlen life-is easy sometimes It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. Anna Quindlen crafts spirit writing Fifty years ago, teachers said their top discipline problems were talking, chewing gum, making noise, and running in the halls. The current list, by contrast, sounds like a cross between a rap sheet and the seven deadly sins. Anna Quindlen rap running teacher That is supposed to be the rallying cry of women in the age of AIDS: no condom, no sex. But the dirty little secret is that the rallying cry is a whisper.... The great unspoken on the heterosexual AIDS front has been how behavior is still determined by the old psychosexual minuet of the sexes, the lack of responsibility in young men and of assertiveness in young women. Anna Quindlen responsibility sex dirty Life is so messy that the temptation to straighten it up is very strong. And the results always illusory. Anna Quindlen strong temptation life It is this that, finally, I will try to teach my sons about sex, after I've explained fertile periods and birth control and all the other mechanics that are important to understand but never really go to the heart of the matter: I believe I will say that when you sleep with someone you take off a lot more than your clothes. Anna Quindlen heart believe sex It's an odd kind of feeling because it sort of reminds me of being five again. When you're a five-year-old, you don't pay any attention to what anyone thinks of you. You just sort of are in your skin. Anna Quindlen feelings years thinking
