More from Betty Friedan
I understood somehow my mother’s frustration. And that it was no good not only for her, but for her children or her husband, that she didn’t have a real use of her ability.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Each woman is made to feel it is her own cross to bear if she can’t be the perfect clone of the male superman and the perfect clone of the feminine mystique.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women’s denigration of themselves.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan If I were a man, I would strenuously object to the assumption that women have any moral or spiritual superiority as a class.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Instead of fulfilling the promise of infinite orgasmic bliss, sex in the America of the feminine mystique is becoming a strangely joyless national compulsion, if not a contemptuous mockery.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Today the problem that has no name is how to juggle work, love, home and children.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan A good woman is one who loves passionately, has guts, seriousness and passionate convictions, takes responsibility, and shapes society.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan While I had been, I guess, quite brilliant, academically, in my college years, I also had been editor of the paper, and I loved that. And, that was a much more active thing. And I missed it when I was doing graduate work.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan There is absolutely no evidence that it is harmful to children if their mother’s health, well-being and autonomy and control of her own destiny is maximized by work outside the home.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan We need to see men and women as equal partners, but its hard to think of movies that do that. When I talk to people, they think of movies of forty-five years ago! Hepburn and Tracy!
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan When I was in high school, even in college, I didn’t have any real image of a career woman or a professional woman.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves? Who knows what women’s intelligence will contribute when it can be nourished without denying love?
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: ‘I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.’
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Getting older is an adventure, not a problem.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan Some people think I’m saying, ‘Women of the world unite — you have nothing to lose but your men. It’s not true. You have nothing to lose but your vacuum cleaners.
Betty FriedanBetty Friedan
Original quotes
From our community writers
Forgiveness comes after understanding & understanding comes after acceptance.
Tom MetcafeTom Metcafe Someday your pen will write a revolution. Until then, write your pain.
Fareena AliyaFareena Aliya Time is precious. So are the people in your life. So love and be loved. Because tomorrow is never promised.
Jenny AJenny A Thank you for still being there for yourself. For being strong. For being resilient. Keep going.
Yohan AcostaYohan Acosta There will never be a day, I am not thankful for the fire you brought to my life that still warms me to the bones.
Mark AnthonyMark Anthony You could have shook my whole world luckily I became aware, and I took a turn.
Emma SchippersEmma Schippers Be strong enough to bloom even in the storm.
Safna SulaimanSafna Sulaiman There is magic in the minuscule.
Holly DuxburyHolly Duxbury
Meet the writers
More on age
Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.
Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.
Lucille BallLucille Ball I’d like to be a bigger and more knowledgeable person ten years from now than I am today. I think that for all of us as we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping our minds active and open.
Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood It is important how we view the youth of our nation. To simply consider them as new age voters will be a big mistake. They are the new age power.
Narendra ModiNarendra Modi Age is a state of mind. Youth and age exist only among the ordinary people. All the more talented and exceptional of us; are sometimes old, just as we are sometimes happy, and sometimes sad.
Hermann HesseHermann Hesse I began to travel by myself, in Europe, when I was eight years old. At that age I was already on the move between India and Swizerland, Switzerland and France, France and England. Administering my own finances like an adult.
Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi The period of a [Persian] boy’s education is between the ages of five and twenty, and he is taught three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth.
HerodotusHerodotus Men are most virile and most attractive between the ages of 35 and 55. Under 35 a man has too much to learn, and I don’t have time to teach him.
Hedy LamarrHedy Lamarr
