Every time I catch myself saying, “Oh no, you shouldn’t try that,” I think, “Yes, I should.”
ERICA JONGEvery time I catch myself saying, “Oh no, you shouldn’t try that,” I think, “Yes, I should.”
ERICA JONGAnd what if I don’t want forgiveness?
ERICA JONGYou cannot divide creative juices from human juices. And as long as juicy women are equated with bad women, we will err on the side of being bad.
ERICA JONGWe are so scared of being judged that we look for every excuse to procrastinate.
ERICA JONGIt’s horrible getting older. I mean, it’s wonderful because you see the circles of life get completed. But it’s horrible losing your looks.
ERICA JONGDriving me away is easier than saying goodbye.
ERICA JONGIt is the nature of those books we call classics to wait patiently on the shelf for us to grow into them.
ERICA JONGThe greatest feminists have also been the greatest lovers. I’m thinking not only of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley, but of Anais Nin, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and of course Sappho.
ERICA JONGIf we can be sufficient unto ourselves, we need fear no entangling webs.
ERICA JONGDo all women have to keep silent for men to speak? Do all women have to be legless for men to walk?
ERICA JONGThough my friends envied me because I always seemed so cheerful and confident, I was secretly terrified of practically everything.
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 JONGThe sexuality doesn’t end. It really doesn’t. You’re sexual your whole life, if you’re a sexual person.
ERICA JONGAnd the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
ERICA JONGMotherhood cannot finally be delegated.
ERICA JONGI do believe that in every age there are people whose consciousness transcends their own time and that these people, whether fictional or historical, are those with whom we most closely identify and those about whom we most enjoy reading.
ERICA JONG