Mother
Quotes - We are not sheep or cows
“Some
ghosts are so quiet you would hardly know they were there.”
―
Bernie Mcgill, The Butterfly Cabinet
“Probably
there is nothing in human nature more resonant with charges than the flow of
energy between two biologically alike bodies, one of which has lain in amniotic
bliss inside the other, one of which has labored to give birth to the other.
The materials are here for the deepest mutuality and the most painful
estrangement.”
―
Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution
“The
Queen is controlling, the Witch is sadistic, the Hermit is fearful, and the
Waif is helpless.
And
each requires a different approach. Don't let the Queen get the upper hand; be
wary even of accepting gifts because it engenders expectations. Don't
internalize the Hermit's fears or become limited by them. Don't allow yourself
to be alone with the Witch; maintain distance for your own emotional and
physical safety. And with the Waif, don't get pulled into her crises and sense
of victimization. Pay attention to your own tendencies to want to rescue her,
which just feeds the dynamic.”
―
Christine Ann Lawson, Understanding the Borderline Mother
“There
is something about losing your mother that is permanent and inexpressable - a
wound that will never quite heal.”
―
Susan Wiggs, The Goodbye Quilt
“[My
dad] didn't do much apart from the traditional winning of bread. He didn't take
me to get my hair cut or my teeth cleaned; he didn't make the appointments. He
didn't shop for my clothes. He didn't make my breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My
mom did all of those things, and nobody ever told her when she did them that it
made her a good mother.”
―
Michael Chabon, Manhood for Amateurs
“We
are not sheep or cows. God didn’t create fences for us or boundaries to contain
our nationalities. Man did. God didn’t draw up religious barriers to separate
us from each other. Man did. And on top of that, no father would like to see
his children fighting or killing each other. The Creator favors the man who
spreads loves over the man who spreads hate. A religious title does not make
anyone more superior over another. If a kind man stands by his conscience and
exhibits truth in his words and actions, he will stand by God regardless of his
faith. If mankind wants to evolve, we must learn from our past mistakes. If
not, our technology will evolve without us.”
―
Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“[Everyone
needs] a woman who'll listen, take your side, tell the truth - or not, as you
need it. A woman you can count on, no matter what, and who'll love you no
matter how much you screw up.”
―
Nora Roberts, Chasing Fire
“And
even if you hate her, can't stand her, even if she's ruining your life, there's
something about her, some romance, some power. She's absolutely herself. No
matter how hard you try, you'll never get to her. And when she dies, the world
will be flat, too simple, reasonable, fair.”
―
Mona Simpson, Anywhere But Here
“My
old man's a white old man
And
my old mother's black.
If
ever I cursed my white old man
I
take my curses back.
If
ever I cursed my black old mother
And
wished she were in hell,
I'm
sorry for that evil wish
And
now i wish her well
My
old man died in a fine big house
My
Ma died in a shack.
I
wonder were i'm going to die,
Being
neither white nor black?”
―
Langston Hughes
“Can
I tell my daughter that I loved her father? This was the man who rubbed my feet
at night. He praised the food that I cooked. He cried honestly when I brought
out trinkets I had saved for the right day, the day he gave me my daughter, a
tiger girl.
How
could I not love this man? But it was a love of a ghost. Arms that encircled
but did not touch. A bowl full of rice but without my appetite to eat it. No
hunger. No fullness.
Now
Saint is a ghost. He and I can now love equally. He knows the things I have
been hiding all these years. Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she
is a daughter of a ghost. She has no chi . This is my greatest shame. How can I
leave this world without leaving her my spirit?
So
this is what I will do. I will gather together my past and look. I will see a
thing that has already happened. The pain that cut my spirit loose. I will hold
that pain in my hand until it becomes hard and shiny, more clear. And then my
fierceness can come back, my golden side, my black side. I will use this sharp
pain to penetrate my daughter's tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She
will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and
give her my spirit, because this is a way a mother loves her daughter.
I
hear my daughter speaking to her husband downstairs. They say words that mean
nothing. They sit in a room with no life in it.
I
know a thing before it happens. She will hear the table and vase crashing on
the floor. She will come upstairs and into my room. Her eyes will see nothing
in the darkness, where I am waiting between the trees.”
―
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
“...be
sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to
play marbles—you are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowers—you might
catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a
blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make
doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine
for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it
even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a
fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how
to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and
if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel
too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it,
and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to
make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the
baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are
really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?”
―
Jamaica Kincaid
“A
mother's hardest to forgive.
Life
is the fruit she longs to hand you
Ripe
on a plate. And while you live,
Relentlessly
she understands you.”
―
Phyllis McGinley
