Quote

I rewrite a great deal. I'm always fiddling, always changing something. I'll write a few words - then I'll change them. I add. I subtract. I work and fiddle and keep working and fiddling, and I only stop at the deadline.

Ellen Goodman

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Ellen Goodman
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: April 11
Journalist
Newton
Massachusetts
Something
Working
Fiddle
Always
Words
Rewrite
Write
Deadline
Keep
Add
Change
Changing
Great
Deal
Writing
Deals
Fiddling
Work
Stop
Subtract

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My father used to say that if a man fools you once, he's a jerk. If he fools you twice, you're a jerk. Only he didn't use the word jerk.
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Welfare is ... the victim of national compassion fatigue.
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We each have a litany of holiday rituals and everyday habits that we hold on to, and we often greet radical innovation with the enthusiasm of a baby meeting a new sitter. We defend against it and - not always, but often enough - reject it. Slowly we adjust, but only if we have to.
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In today's amphetamine world of news junkies, speed trumps thoughtfulness too often.
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Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe and aren't even aware of.
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We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.
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I regard this novel as a work without redeeming social value, unless it can be recycled as a cardboard box.
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we have made an extraordinary transition. From moral absolutes to moral relativism. ... Moral problems become medical ones and yesterday's sinners become today's patients.
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You can believe in women's rights without believing that every woman is right.
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There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives.
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Taboos are falling across our culture like dominoes. What was unspeakable yesterday dominates talk shows today.
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The great myth of our work-intense era is 'quality time.' We believe we can make up for the loss of days or hours, especially with each other, by concentrated minutes. But ultimately there is no way to do one-minute mothering. There is no way to pay attention in a hurry.
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It has begun to occur to me that life is a stage I'm going through.
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Women have gained access to the institutions, but not enough power to overhaul them.
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People have been writing premature obituaries on the women's movement since its beginning.
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The truth is that we can overhaul our surroundings, renovate our environment, talk a new game, join a new club, far more easily than we can change the way we respond emotionally. It is easier to change behavior than feelings about that behavior.
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Maybe at 20 you can write well, but I don't think you could do what I do. Some things have to happen to you first.
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If there's a single message passed down from each generation of American parents to their children, it is a two-word line: Better Yourself. And if there's a temple of self-betterment in each town, it is the local school. We have worshipped there for some time.
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You can teach someone who cares to write columns, but you can’t teach someone who writes columns to care.
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