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Margaret Atwood Quotes - Page 6

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As William Gibson says, the future is already here but it's lumpy. It's unevenly distributed. Some people are already living this, the ones on low-lying islands off the coast of India are being swept away, you know,

As William Gibson says, the future is already here but it's lumpy. It's unevenly distributed. Some people are already living this, the ones on low-lying islands off the coast of India are being swept away, you know, it's already happening to some people. We happen to be very lucky so far.

Margaret Atwood
Lying, Islands, People
Source: www.macleans.ca

The sands of time are quicksands ... so much can sink into them without a trace.

Margaret Atwood
Time, Sand, Without A Trace
Margaret Atwood (2014). “The MaddAddam Trilogy Bundle: The Year of the Flood; Oryx & Crake; MaddAddam”, p.571, Anchor

You can wipe your feet on me, twist my motives around all you like, you can dump millstones on my head and drown me in the river, but you can’t get me out of the story. I’m the plot, babe, and don’t ever forget it.

Margaret Atwood
Rivers, Feet, Twists
Margaret Atwood (2011). “Good Bones and Simple Murders”, p.11, Nan A. Talese

We understand more than we know.

Margaret Atwood
Understanding, Knows
Margaret Atwood (2014). “The MaddAddam Trilogy Bundle: The Year of the Flood; Oryx & Crake; MaddAddam”, p.300, Anchor

Farewells can be shattering, but returns are surely worse. Solid flesh can never live up to the bright shadow cast by its absence. Time and distance blur the edges; then suddenly the beloved has arrived, and it's noon with its merciless light, and every spot and pore and wrinkle and bristle stands clear.

Margaret Atwood
Life, Distance, Farewell
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Blind Assassin: A Novel”, p.76, Anchor

If you knew what was going to happen, if you knew everything that was going to happen next—if you knew in advance the consequences of your own actions—you'd be doomed. You'd be ruined as God. You'd be a stone. You'd never eat or drink or laugh or get out of bed in the morning. You'd never love anyone, ever again. You'd never dare to.

Margaret Atwood
Morning, Women, Knowledge
FaceBook post by Margaret Atwood from Mar 08, 2015

Instead I will say, "Take me to your trees. Take me to your breakfasts, your sunsets, your bad dreams, your shoes, your nouns. Take me to your fingers; take me to your deaths." These are worth it. These are what I have come for.

Margaret Atwood
Dream, Sunset, Shoes
Margaret Atwood (2011). “Good Bones and Simple Murders”, p.138, Nan A. Talese

Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.

Margaret Atwood
Aunt, May, Ordinary
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.33, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

To want is to have a weakness.

Margaret Atwood
Weakness, Want
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.136, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

When you're unhinged, things make their way out of you that should be kept inside, and other things get in that ought to be shut out. The locks lose their powers. The guards go to sleep. The passwords fail.

Margaret Atwood
Sleep, Locks, Way

By now you know: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, "Take me to your leaders." Even I--unused to your ways though I am--would never make that mistake. We ourselves have such beings among us, made of cogs, pieces of paper, small disks of shiny metal, scraps of coloured cloth. I do not need to encounter more of them. Instead I will say, "Take me to your trees. Take me to your breakfasts, your sunsets, your bad dreams, your shoes, your nouns. Take me to your fingers; take me to your deaths." These are worth it. These are what I have come for.

Margaret Atwood
Dream, Mistake, Sunset

The astrologers would tell that the U.S. is ruled by fire and Canada is ruled by water. Short version: You pep us up, we cool you down.

Margaret Atwood
Water, Pep
Source: www.washingtonpost.com

How could I be sleeping with this particular man.... Surely only true love could justify my lack of taste.

Margaret Atwood
Relationship, Sleep, Men

And she finds it difficult to believe—that a person would love her even when she isn't trying. Trying to figure out what other people need, trying to be worthy.

Margaret Atwood
Believe, People, Trying

That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.

Margaret Atwood
Home, Night, People
FaceBook post by Margaret Atwood from Feb 20, 2017

And consider: it is loss to which everything flows, absence in which everything flowers

Margaret Atwood
Flower, Loss, Flow
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Tent”, p.27, Anchor

If you get hungry enough, they say, you start eating your own heart.

Margaret Atwood
Heart, Eating, Hungry
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Blind Assassin: A Novel”, p.329, Anchor

This is how the girl who couldn't speak and the man who couldn't see fell in love.

Margaret Atwood
Girl, Men, Speak
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Blind Assassin: A Novel”, p.256, Anchor

It's impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because of what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavors, in the air or on the tongue, half-colors, too many.

Margaret Atwood
Mean, Air, Color
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.134, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publishing a book is like stuffing a note into a bottle and hurling it into the sea. Some bottles drown, some come safe to land, where the notes are read and then possibly cherished, or else misinterpreted, or else understood all too well by those who hate the message. You never know who your readers might be.

Margaret Atwood
Hate, Book, Sea

You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there's no free lunch. Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you're on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.

Margaret Atwood
Book, Writing, Mean
"Ten rules for writing fiction". www.theguardian.com. February 20, 2010.

I am nervous about dogmas of any kind, whether they be religious, political, or anti-religious. Too many heads have rolled because of them.

Margaret Atwood
Religious, Political, Dogma
"Margaret Atwood Ruins a Marriage, Talks Memes, Politics in Reddit AMA". Interview with Jia Tolentino, jezebel.com. December 30, 2014.

I wish you good writing and good luck. Even if you've already done the good writing, you'll still need the good luck. It's a shark-filled lagoon out there. Cross your fingers and watch your back.

Margaret Atwood
Writing, Good Luck, Sharks

Although from you I far must roam, do not be broken hearted. We two, who in the souls are one, are never truly parted.

Margaret Atwood
Two, Broken, Soul
Margaret Atwood (2011). “Alias Grace: A Novel”, p.25, Anchor

friendship was always contingent.

Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood (2004). “Oryx and Crake”, p.71, Anchor

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