The quotations of

Margaret Atwood

Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor

born 1939

10 quotes, most often on Writing.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Nobody said when.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Chapter 15 (p. 89)
- Comedy
- Religion
Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space.
Cat’s Eye (1988)
- Time
Writers started doing dystopias after we saw the effects of trying to build utopias that required, unfortunately, the elimination of a lot of people before you could get to the perfect point, which never arrived.
The Progressive interview (2010)
- Writing
War is what happens when language fails.
The Robber Bride (1993), Ch. 6
- War & Peace
It’s a feature of our age that if you write a work of fiction, everyone assumes that the people and events in it are disguised biography — but if you write your biography, it’s equally assumed you’re lying your head off.
On Writing Poetry (1995)
- Truth & Lies
- Writing
All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.
The Blind Assassin (2000)
- Writing
To live in prison is to live without mirrors. To live
without mirrors is to live without the self.
Selected Poems 1976-1986 (1987), “Marrying the Hangman”
- Freedom
Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Chapter 10 (p. 56)
- Knowledge
A lot of people facing fascism didn’t become fascists. I don’t happen to believe that we are all monsters.
The Progressive interview (2010)
- Good & Evil
The fabric of democracy is always fragile everywhere because it depends on the will of citizens to protect it, and when they become scared, when it becomes dangerous for them to defend it, it can go very quickly.
The Progressive interview (2010)
- Democracy

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