Erica Jong Quotes
An American author and educator. She is best known for her first novel, Fear of Flying (1973).
(1942 - )
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Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
[Friendship]
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Ambivalence is a wonderful tune to dance to. It has a rhythm all its own.
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And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
[Risks]
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Bigamy is having one husband too many. Monogamy is the same.
[Marriage]
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Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. . . . It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more.
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Every country gets the circus it deserves. Spain gets bullfights. Italy gets the Catholic Church. America gets Hollywood.
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
[Courage]
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Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.
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Friends love misery, in fact. Sometimes, especially if we are too lucky or too successful or too pretty, our misery is the only thing that endears us to our friends.
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Gossip is the opiate of the oppressed.
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He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him who can give it.
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I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.
[Acceptance]
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I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.
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I know some good marriages-marriages where both people are just trying to get through their days by helping each other, being good to each other.
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I was afraid to write Fear of Flying; ergo, I had to write it. I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.
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I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.... I had poems which were rewritten so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.
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I write lustily and humorously. It isn't calculated; it's the way I think. I've invented a writing style that expresses who I am.
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If you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
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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.
[One Day]
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In a bad marriage, friends are the invisible glue. If we have enough friends, we may go on for years, intending to leave, talking about leaving - instead of actually getting up and leaving.
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