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Margaret Atwood Quotes - Page 9

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Being edited is like falling face down into a threshing machine.

Being edited is like falling face down into a threshing machine.

Margaret Atwood
Fall, Machines, Faces

Nevertheless, blood is thicker than water, as anyone knows who has tasted both.

Margaret Atwood
Blood, Water, Nevertheless

For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.

Margaret Atwood
Inspirational, Years, Age

Because you may think a bed is a peaceful thing, Sir, and to you it may mean rest and comfort and a good night's sleep. But it isn't so for everyone; and there are many dangerous things that may take place in a bed.

Margaret Atwood
Good Night, Mean, Sleep
Margaret Atwood (2011). “Alias Grace: A Novel”, p.161, Anchor

Every aspect of human technology has a dark side, including the bow and arrow.

Margaret Atwood
Dark, Technology, Arrows

The threat to the planet is us. It's actually not a threat to the planet - it's a threat to us.

Margaret Atwood
Earth Day, Planets, Threat
"Margaret Atwood interview: 'Go three days without water and you don't have any human rights. Why? Because you're dead'". Interview with Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. November 27, 2010.

Confronted by too much emptiness ... the brain invents. Loneliness creates company as thirst creates water. How many sailors have been wrecked in pursuit of islands that were merely a shimmering?

Margaret Atwood
Loneliness, Islands, Water

I'm not senile," I snapped. "If I burn the house down it will be on purpose.

Margaret Atwood
House, Purpose, Senile
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Blind Assassin: A Novel”, p.310, Anchor

But nothing is more opaque than absolute transparency.

Margaret Atwood
Opaque, Transparency, Absolutes
Margaret Atwood (2015). “Morning in the Burned House”, p.46, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I am afraid of falling into hopeless despair, over my wasted life, and I am still not sure how it happened.

Margaret Atwood
Fall, Despair, Hopeless
Margaret Atwood (2011). “Alias Grace: A Novel”, p.428, Anchor

Extreme good, extreme evil: the abilities required are similar.

Margaret Atwood
Evil, Ability, Extremes

Human understanding is fallible, and we see through a glass, darkly. Any religion is a shadow of God. But the shadows of God are not God.

Margaret Atwood
Glasses, Understanding, Shadow
Margaret Atwood (2009). “The Year of the Flood”, p.173, Anchor

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
Real, Government, People
Margaret Atwood (1984). “Second words: selected critical prose”, Beacon Press, 1984

As an artist your first loyalty is to your art. Unless this is the case, you're going to be a second-rate artist. I don't mean there's never any overlap. You learn things in one area and bring them into another area. But giving a speech against racism is not the same as writing a novel. The object is very clear in the fight against racism; you have reasons why you're opposed to it. But when you're writing a novel, you don't want the reader to come out of it voting yes or no to some question. Life is more complicated than that. Reality simply consists of different points of view.

Margaret Atwood
Loyalty, Art, Writing
Source: www.motherjones.com

Choice of evils debates always produce extremism - people choose what they hope is the lesser evil, then call it good and demonize the other choice. It will be a challenge for your generation to synthesize - to move beyond Us versus Them, to We.

Margaret Atwood
Inspirational, Graduation, Moving

Walking was not fast enough, so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on long metal tracks. Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove. Driving was not fast enough, so we flew. Flying isn't fast enough for us. We want to get there faster. Get where? Wherever we are not. But a human soul can only go as fast as a man can walk, they used to say. In that case, where are all the souls? Left behind.

Margaret Atwood
Running, Men, Long
Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Tent”, p.89, Anchor

we lived in the gaps between the stories

Margaret Atwood
Stories, Gaps, Handmaids Tale
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.57, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Is anything wrong, dear? the old joke went. No, why? You moved. Just don't move.

Margaret Atwood
Moving, Old Jokes, Dear
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.222, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

God is not the voice in the whirlwind, God is the whirlwind.

Margaret Atwood
Voice, Whirlwind
Margaret Atwood (1987). “Selected Poems, 1965-1975”, p.115, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Messy love is better than none, I guess. I am no authority on sane living.

Margaret Atwood
Love Is, Authority, Messy
Margaret Atwood (2015). “Morning in the Burned House”, p.25, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.

Margaret Atwood
Dying
Margaret Atwood (2009). “The Year of the Flood”, p.325, Anchor

You can wet the rim of a glass and run your finger around the rim and it will make a sound. This is what I feel like: this sound of glass. I feel like the word shatter. I want to be with someone.

Margaret Atwood
Running, Glasses, Sound
Margaret Atwood (1986). “The Handmaid's Tale”, p.103, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Support your libraries... or else!

Margaret Atwood
Support, Library

Why is it we want so badly to memorialize ourselves? Even while we're still alive. We wish to assert our existence, like dogs peeing on fire hydrants.

Margaret Atwood
Dog, Fire, Wish
FaceBook post by Margaret Atwood from Dec 26, 2012

Always good to take a look at the long list for the Mann Booker, for the Commonwealth. It gives you an overview.There is so much going on all over the world that it's impossible for one person to keep up. And I can't.

Margaret Atwood
Giving, Long, World
"Unscripted: Margaret Atwood Interview". Interview With Paul D. Miller, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

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