Anna Quindlen

Explore inspiring quotes by Anna Quindlen, a remarkable figure whose words continue to inspire and motivate people around the world.

Total Quotes

Top Categories by Anna Quindlen

Discover the themes and topics this author explores most

failure

2 quotes

women

2 quotes

freedom

2 quotes

strength

2 quotes

amazing

1 quotes

beauty

1 quotes

work

1 quotes

design

1 quotes

Featured Quotes by Anna Quindlen

Some of the most memorable quotes from this author

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

— Anna Quindlenamazing

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

— Anna Quindlenbeauty

"I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me."

— Anna Quindlenchange

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

— Anna Quindlendesign

"The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible that is, that one is male and the other female."

— Anna Quindlenfailure

"I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much."

— Anna Quindlenfailure

All Quotes by Anna Quindlen

Browse all quotes from this author

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

-Anna Quindlen

amazingView Quote

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

-Anna Quindlen

beautyView Quote

"I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me."

-Anna Quindlen

changeView Quote

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

-Anna Quindlen

designView Quote

"The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible that is, that one is male and the other female."

-Anna Quindlen

failureView Quote

"I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much."

-Anna Quindlen

failureView Quote

"In the family sandwich, the older people and the younger ones can recognize one another as the bread. Those in the middle are, for a time, the meat."

-Anna Quindlen

familyView Quote

"Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?"

-Anna Quindlen

fearView Quote

"Children should have enough freedom to be themselves - once they've learned the rules."

-Anna Quindlen

freedomView Quote

"I will never understand people who think that the way to show their righteous opposition to sexual freedom is to write letters full of filthy words."

-Anna Quindlen

freedomView Quote

"The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you'd never know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get from the culture and even from their schools."

-Anna Quindlen

futureView Quote

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

-Anna Quindlen

greatView Quote

"The greatest public health threat for many American women is the men they live with."

-Anna Quindlen

healthView Quote

"The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible that is, that one is male and the other female."

-Anna Quindlen

marriageView Quote

"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

morningView Quote

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

-Anna Quindlen

poetryView Quote

"But it's important, while we are supporting lessons in respecting others, to remember that many of our youngest kids need to learn to respect themselves. You learn your worth from the way you are treated."

-Anna Quindlen

respectView Quote

"If I get the forty additional years statisticians say are likely coming to me, I could fit in at least one, maybe two new lifetimes. Sad that only one of those lifetimes can include being the mother of young children."

-Anna Quindlen

sadView Quote

"Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?"

-Anna Quindlen

strengthView Quote

"I realized that, while I would never be my mother nor have her life, the lesson she had left me was that it was possible to love and care for a man and still have at your core a strength so great that you never even needed to put it on display."

-Anna Quindlen

strengthView Quote

"I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much."

-Anna Quindlen

successView Quote

"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them."

-Anna Quindlen

trustView Quote

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

-Anna Quindlen

weddingView Quote

"People always blame the girl she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it."

-Anna Quindlen

wisdomView Quote

"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

womenView Quote

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

-Anna Quindlen

womenView Quote

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

-Anna Quindlen

workView Quote

Other Authors to Explore

Explore more inspiring authors

View All Authors

Anna Quindlen

Top Categories by Anna Quindlen

failure

women

freedom

strength

amazing

beauty

work

design

Featured Quotes by Anna Quindlen

All Quotes by Anna Quindlen

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

"I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me."

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

"The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible that is, that one is male and the other female."

"I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much."

"In the family sandwich, the older people and the younger ones can recognize one another as the bread. Those in the middle are, for a time, the meat."

"Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?"

"Children should have enough freedom to be themselves - once they've learned the rules."

"I will never understand people who think that the way to show their righteous opposition to sexual freedom is to write letters full of filthy words."

"The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you'd never know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get from the culture and even from their schools."

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

"The greatest public health threat for many American women is the men they live with."

"The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible that is, that one is male and the other female."

"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.'"

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

"But it's important, while we are supporting lessons in respecting others, to remember that many of our youngest kids need to learn to respect themselves. You learn your worth from the way you are treated."

"If I get the forty additional years statisticians say are likely coming to me, I could fit in at least one, maybe two new lifetimes. Sad that only one of those lifetimes can include being the mother of young children."

"Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?"

"I realized that, while I would never be my mother nor have her life, the lesson she had left me was that it was possible to love and care for a man and still have at your core a strength so great that you never even needed to put it on display."

"I'm sure not afraid of success and I've learned not to be afraid of failure. The only thing I'm afraid of now is of being someone I don't like much."

"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them."

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

"People always blame the girl she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it."

"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.'"

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

Related Authors

Henry David Thoreau

Mitt Romney

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friedrich Nietzsche

Mahatma Gandhi

George Bernard Shaw

Albert Einstein

Thomas Jefferson

Jerry Saltz

Plato

Aristotle

Barack Obama

Oscar Wilde

Benjamin Franklin

John F. Kennedy

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Mark Twain

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Voltaire

Bertrand Russell

Other Authors to Explore

John George Nicolay

Avi Arad

Elliot Paul

Tracy K. Smith

Sam Brownback

Ryan Gosling

Herbie Mann

John Amery

Colm Meaney

Anthony Michael Hall

Jerry O'Connell

Michael Showalter

Sophie Swetchine

Jake Roberts

Berenice Abbott

Christian Bale

Erik Satie

Steven Soderbergh

Craig Charles