If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair.
ERICA JONGIf, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair.
ERICA JONGI have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.
ERICA JONGI vowed to give up sex, bacon, and air travel if I ever made it back to terra firma in one piece.
ERICA JONGFriends love misery… our misery is what endears us to our friends.
ERICA JONGMy mother wanted me to be her wings, to fly as she never quite had the courage to do. I love her for that. I love the fact that she wanted to give birth to her own wings.
ERICA JONGYou are always naked when you start writing; you are always as if you had never written anything before; you are always a beginner.
ERICA JONGThe only difference between men and women is that women are able to create new little human beings in their bodies while simultaneously writing books, driving tractors, working in offices, planting crops – in general, doing everything men do.
ERICA JONGBetrayal betrays the betrayer.
ERICA JONGMotherhood cannot finally be delegated.
ERICA JONGThere are no atheists on turbulent airplanes.
ERICA JONGIs a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?
ERICA JONGConflict is the soul of literature.
ERICA JONGBreast-feeding may succumb to the bottle; cuddling, fondling, and paediatric visits may also be done by fathers…but when a child needs a mother to talk to, nobody else but a mother will do.
ERICA JONGI don’t think that sex necessarily produces intimacy.
ERICA JONGDo all women have to keep silent for men to speak? Do all women have to be legless for men to walk?
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