This is why I had children: to offer them a perfect dream of childhood that can fill their souls as they grow older. Anna Quindlen More Quotes by Anna Quindlen More Quotes From Anna Quindlen The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. Anna Quindlen being-yourselfconfidenceletting-go Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home. Anna Quindlen readingbooktravel Look around at the azaleas making fuchsia star bursts in spring; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is glorious, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Anna Quindlen starsmoonspring New York is a city where it's particularly hard to be poor, not only because everything costs twice as much as it does elsewhere but because over-the-top affluence is part of its identity. Anna Quindlen citiesidentitynew-york The greatest public health threat for many American women is the men they live with. Anna Quindlen usahealthmen I got a fortune cookie that said, "To remember is to understand." I have never forgotten it. A good judge remembers what it was like to be a lawyer. A good editor remembers being a writer. A good parent remembers what it was like to be a child. Anna Quindlen editorslifechildren Acts of bravery don't always take place on battlefields. They can take place in your heart, when you have the courage to honor your character, your intellect, your inclinations, and yes, your soul by listening to its clean, clear voice of direction instead of following the muddied messages of a timid world. Anna Quindlen courageheartcharacter Reading is another thing that has made me more human by exposing me to worlds I might never have entered and people I might never meet. Anna Quindlen readingpeopleworld being a parent is not transaction ... we do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: we are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us. Anna Quindlen parentstronggiving Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle. Anna Quindlen middleliteraturelife-is Speech is the voice of the heart. Anna Quindlen speechvoiceheart There's no greater happiness than doing something every day that you love, that you feel you do in a satisfactory fashion, and which both supports and gives you time to support your family. I felt so lucky to have all that. Anna Quindlen supportfashiongiving I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that this is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. Anna Quindlen journeydresseslife The voices of conformity speak so loudly. Don't listen to them. No one does the right thing out of fear. If you ever utter the words, 'We've always done it that way,' I urge you to wash out your mouth with soap. Anna Quindlen voicedonedoe If an opportunity scares you, that's God's way of saying you should jump at it. Anna Quindlen starting-overopportunitylife I've been a feminist since I was a teenager, but originally it was because I wanted to make the world a better place for me. Anna Quindlen teenagerfeministworld After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough.' Anna Quindlen womensmartmorning That's really what I want in a leader; I want somebody who's really, really smart. Anna Quindlen smartleaderwant Your children make it impossible to regret your past. They're its finest fruits. Sometimes the only ones. Anna Quindlen regretchildrenpast an the president bring out the voters who were so enthusiastic about him in 2008 and seem a little disenchanted now? Can he bring out young people? Can he bring out Latinos? Can he bring out those white suburban moms? Anna Quindlen momwhitepeople
