Quote

Craving that old sweet oneness yet dreading engulfment, wishing to be our mother's and yet be our own, we stormily swing from mood to mood, advancing and retreating-the quintessential model of two-mindedness.

Judith Viorst

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Judith Viorst
Age: 93
Born: 1931
Born: February 2
Author
Journalist
Writer
Newark
New Jersey
Mood
Mindedness
Models
Wishing
Sweet
Advancing
Wish
Swing
Mother
Oneness
Two
Craving
Dreading
Swings
Retreating
Model
Quintessential

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Telling a lie is called wrong. Telling the truth is called right. Except when telling the truth is called bad manners and telling a lie is called polite.
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No-fault guilt: This is when, instead of trying to figure out who's to blame, everyone pays.
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I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
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The need to become a separate self is as urgent as the yearning to merge forever. And as long as we, not our mother, initiate parting, and as long as our mother remains reliably there, it seems possible to risk, and even to revel in, standing alone.
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Suffering makes you deep. Travel makes you broad. In case I get my pick, I'd rather travel.
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Losing is the price we pay for living. It is also the source of much of our growth and gain.
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Our father presents an optional set of rhythms and responses for us to connect to. As a second home base, he makes it safer to roam. With him as an ally--a love--it is safer, too, to show that we're mad when we're mad at our mother. We can hate and not be abandoned, hate and still love.
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