Women Authors From The United States

"Stupidity, yes, but not unilateral stupidity. Something this screwed up had to have taken a committee."

"“For all you Betans seem soft, you have an appalling cold-blooded streak in you.” “Rational streak, sir. Rationality has its merits. You Barrayarans ought to try it sometime.”"

"“What a barbaric custom.” “Well, we could treat crime as a disease, like you Betans. You know what that’s like. At least we kill a man cleanly, all at once, instead of in bits over the years….I don’t know.” “How will they…do it?” “Beheading. It’s supposed to be almost painless.” “How do they know?” His laugh was totally without humor. “A very cogent question.”"

"You can’t choose between evil and evil, in the dark, by logic. You can only cling to some safety line of principle."

"Check your assumptions, Cordelia thought to herself in amusement. In fact, check your assumptions at the door."

"“Don’t be afraid,” she said. “The dead cannot hurt you. They give you no pain, except that of seeing your own death in their faces. And one can face that, I find.” Yes, he thought, the good face pain. But the great—they embrace it."

"An honor is not diminished for being shared."

"What a strange world you must live in, inside your head."

"A person’s things can be a kind of exterior morphology of their mind."

"I’ve always felt that theists were more ruthless than atheists."

"I’ve always thought—tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"“Ah, yes. I recall from your file that you are some sort of theist.” said the Emperor. “I am an atheist, myself. A simple faith, but a great comfort to me, in these last days.” “Yes, I have often felt the pull of it myself.”"

"Why shouldn’t a madman dream of being sane?"

"“Women shouldn’t be in combat,” said Vorkosigan, grimly glum. “Neither should men, in my opinion.”"

"“So this word of honor business—you believe he never breaks it?” “Well…” “He does, then.” “I have seen him do so. But the cost was huge.” “He breaks it for a price, then.” “Not for a price. At a cost.” “I fail to see the distinction.” “A price is something you get. A cost is something you lose.”"

"“Well, I don’t hate him. I can’t say I worship him, either.” She paused a long time, and looked up to meet her mother’s eyes squarely. “But when he’s cut, I bleed.”"

"I’m sorry. I can love you. I can grieve for you, or with you. I can share your pain. But I cannot judge you."

"The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present—they are real."

"“Suffering bastard.” “I thought you saw meaning in that sort of thing,” said Vorkosigan. “In the abstract. Most days it’s just stumbling around in the dark with the rest of creation, smashing into things and wondering why it hurts.”"

"For years I gave the press really ugly pictures of myself which would make me cringe...And I didn't exist!...They can't market you, so you don't appear to the public, so you don't have a voice."

"You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation."

"Old age ain't no place for sissies."

"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch."

"Discipline is a symbol of caring to a child. Discipline is guidance. If there is love, there is no such thing as being too tough with a child."

"Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did."

"Miss Bankhead isn't well enough known nationally to warrant my imitating her. (In response to accusations she imitated Bankhead in the role of Margo Channing in All about Eve. Bankhead resented Davis for the perceived imitation, which she considered mocking, and for portraying her Broadway Roles on film [Dark Victory, Jezebel, The Little Foxes].This comment is unusual in that Davis usually tried to deflate the myth [started by Tallulah for amusement and publicity of any sort of conflict between them, instead expressing her admiration for Bankhead. Similarly, when Bankhead was asked to do an imitation of Davis, she said "Why should I dahling, she's been imitating me long enough". Before candidly remarking "But really, it's been sheer coincidence that Bette's been playing the leading roles in films like Dark Victory. I really admire her very much.")"

"May each of my grandsons know, at an early age, what his life's ambition is -- and may he be successful in his pursuit of that goal."

"I'm the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived."

"I think Mr. Reagan has done very well under very difficult circumstances. He's had terrific problems physically and he's managed them very well. But my God, the witch hunt today! Is there any human being alive who hasn't done something bad in their youth - like maybe smoke marijuana once? And this man (Judge Ginsburg) found it necessary to admit it! My God! It would be like Mr. Jack Kennedy sitting down and listing all the women (he knew) before he got in."

"'In the beginning was the Word,' and you must not be tempted with a script just because you have a great part. You want a great role to play, but the whole - the whole - must be good. It'll never succeed if it's just the role you like."

"I love my profession. I would never stop. Relax? I relax when I work. It's my life."

"Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work."

"The act of sex, gratifying though it may be, is God's joke on humanity. It is man's last desperate stand at superintendency. The whole ritual is a grotesque anachronism, an outdated testament to man's waning power. It's all we've got and so we make the best of it. It is not, however, sufficient reason for matrimony."

"What a dump."

"That picture clinched my future as far as Universal was concerned. They felt that as I had not emerged as a glamour girl after being worked over by , I had no possibilities. When I arrived in Hollywood, when I thought about it all, I considered myself as normally attractive; after that year at Universal I found that I was apologizing for living. Physically I considered myself as one to be avoided. I still cringe at the beating I took."

"I think it was that picture, more than anything else, that gave me a horror of nobility. Ever since then I have fought against portraying saccharine characters. Give me the part of a vixen and I'm happy."

"To look back is to relax one's vigil."

"I could just about stand being in a southern plantation at 5 A.M. with Miss Crawford. But never Miss Davis!"

"She has about as much sex appeal as ."

"Davis has nice eyes."

"You know, Bette Davis was the person who said, "Aging ain’t for sissies.""

"Then I did '—at the end director boldly predicted would be a big hit, I'd have a solid career and Bette Davis would go nowhere. Bette hasn't spoken to him since."

"She is a pro from start to finish. She always gives her best, and her best is really something. It's got power and force and meaning. Her contribution to any film is meaningful. It's probably her New England heritage, but she believes firmly in giving a good day's work for a good day's pay. She's a no-nonsense dame who's earned the respect of her colleagues by hard work and talent. She's been nominated for an Academy Award 10 times, the greatest number ever given anybody in this business, and she's won two Oscars. I don't know how many pictures she's made, 80 or 90, but she can work for me as long as she wants to."

"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose."

"When she greeted Gromyko, he leaned down to her and said, "Does your husband believe in peace?" She responded, "Yes, of course." Gromkyo responded, "Then whisper 'peace' in your husband's ear every night." Without missing a beat, Mrs. Reagan replied, "I will. And I'll also whisper it in your ear." Gromyko repeated the story many times over the years. It was a clear and unmistakable message coming from President's Reagan's closet and most influential adviser — his wife — that they had turned a new page in the relationship. The rest is history. President Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev reached historic arms control agreements. Reagan went to Moscow. Gorbachev visited the United States. They ushered in a new era of peace that had been unequalled in modern times. Feminists today look at Nancy Reagan as an example of the old world, when women worried more about frivolous things like clothes and dinner parties. Let them. Nancy Reagan had more to do with successfully winning the Cold War than all the generals, diplomats and politicians ever could. Nancy Reagan may have been tiny in size, but she was a giant in stature. We have peace in the world today because that indomitable first lady took the first step."

"Reagan's legacy may be one of the few things Republican presidential candidates have agreed upon in recent weeks. Republican front-runner Donald Trump called Reagan an “amazing woman” on Twitter, and Sen. Ted Cruz recalled her “deep passion.”"

"the 1980s, when Nancy Reagan's slogan "Just Say No" passed as high-level drug education."

"Her most famous moment as First Lady came almost by accident: the Just Say No campaign against drug use at a time when abuse was running out of control. "I was in California and I was talking to, I think, fifth graders, and one little girl raised her hand and said, 'Mrs. Reagan, what do you do if somebody offers you drugs?' And I said, 'well, you just say no.' And there it was born. I think people thought that we had an advertising agency over who dreamed that up — not true." Reagan called her "my secret weapon" in his fight against drug use."

"I appreciate the attention and prayers of people I will probably never meet. Just as when my father died, there is comfort in feeling surrounded by gentle thoughts and kind wishes, often sent out by strangers. And just as when my father died, we will honor my mother publicly — stand on the public stage and share as much as we can. Then, when that is completed, we'll draw the circle in a little tighter and deal with the often complicated map of personal loss."

"You didn't have to be a Reagan Republican to admire and respect Nancy Reagan. ... She was a tower of strength alongside her husband, had strong beliefs, and was not afraid to chart her own course politically. She persuaded her husband to support the Brady Law, and their advocacy was instrumental in helping us pass it."