Mary Gaitskill Quotes

My ambition was to live like music.

Of course there’s something there; unfortunately, there’s always something ‘there.’ Something you will one day be sorry you saw.

The only way to know whats possible is to venture past impossible.

You can teach people a lot about craft and various techniques, and you can certainly teach them to appreciate, but you cannot give them spirit or soul if it's not there.

What are you thinking?” She asks. -That you are beautiful. That not everyone could see it. I almost became the kind of person who could not.

I remember the time I said, 'I don't think you love yourself. You need to learn to love yourself.'

Somebody once said to me if you want to be understood, don't write fiction.

Dani said this woman, with whom she’d lived for two years, had never known her. “I feel like people accept the first thing I show them,” she said, “and that’s all I ever am to them.

The hurts of childhood that must be avenged: so small and so huge.

I think a woman who commits adultery, is not sympathetic in our culture - or in many cultures, let's face it.

I think women who are very creative and giving members of society can be respected and accepted.

Most women at retirement have significantly less money than men, and they still get paid less than men. I'm sure that in my reptile brain I'm quite conscious of this.

I focus more on the spiritual or psychic gains.

I think, life is miserable.

When you're writing a story, you're creating something of an artificial ending.

I think politics are a part of life, so I have no resistance to it, but it's not something I set out to do.

I became very aware of how important it is to connect with children - possibly for the children, if they're in the mood for that - but certainly for the adults.

I think if a woman is very happy with herself and at ease with her choices, it goes a long way toward making other people feel at ease with her.

Partly, I'm worried that no one is saying anything because they are afraid of being seen as politically correct.

I know several women my age who are really poor...because they spent most of their energy taking care of children.

I think people hold back all kinds of things. And in a way, they just want to be nice. They want to be civil.

The art of integrating the ego and the impulse for empathy in a dynamic call and response.

Whenever young writers ask me for advice, I always say you have to be able to take a lot of rejection because, unless you're very lucky, that's what's going to happen.

Something like riding a horse - which I've recently started doing - requires courage, especially for me, as I started out being actually scared of horses.

Dani said this woman, with whom she’d lived for two years, had never known her. “I feel like people accept the first thing I show them, ” she said, “and that’s all I ever am to them.

It's nothing serious, " he said. "It's just an obsession.