Jane Smiley Inspirational Quotes (78)

I have reared, or helped to rear, five children and the scariest bit, bar none, is the learning to drive part. It has filled me with anxiety not only about the children, but also about my former self and my friends.

I say, when your hair turns gray and your children think they know who you are, do the thing that shakes up who you think you are, even who you had prided yourself on being. When all those around you say they simply don't recognize you any longer, that's the real compliment.

I love to write about sex. You just have to make it idiosyncratic. You have to have a strong comprehension of your characters, and write it from their point of view. It's really fun. It's not erotic.

Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

you know that the urge for revenge is a fact of marital life.