Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.
ERICA JONGPerhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.
ERICA JONGA poem (surely someone has said this before) is a one-night stand, a short story a love affair, and a novel a marriage.
ERICA JONGKeeping a journal implies hope.
ERICA JONGConflict is the soul of literature.
ERICA JONGDo you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it.
ERICA JONGBefore things are written down they don’t exist in quite the same way. The act of fixing them in words gives them a kind of currency that can be traded.
ERICA JONGThey keep saying the right person will come along. I think mine got hit by a truck.
ERICA JONGPeople always think that history proceeds in a straight line. It doesn’t. Social attitudes don’t change in a straight line.
ERICA JONGIf we are all made of God, it is our friends who remind us. We pass the gift of God to them. They pass it back to us when we need it most.
ERICA JONGMy reaction to porno films is as follows: After the first ten minutes, I want to go home and screw. After the first twenty minutes, I never want to screw again as long as I live.
ERICA JONGHumor is one of the most serious tools we have for dealing with impossible situations.
ERICA JONGNarrative- and image-making creatures like humans don’t feel any experience is complete unless it’s recorded.
ERICA JONGIn loving life you love what can’t survive.
ERICA JONGIf we can be sufficient unto ourselves, we need fear no entangling webs.
ERICA JONGIs a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?
ERICA JONGThe dilemma is that if one does not risk anything one risks even more.
ERICA JONG