Rebecca West on family

Were it possible for us to wait for ourselves to come into the room, not many of us would find our hearts breaking into flower as we heard the door handle turn.

There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that is all.

I myself have never been able to find out what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.

Ring Lardner1885–1933

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on-a-rope.

Bill Cosbyborn 1937