“She knew she had become the strange sort of lady that she remembered noticing as a child, the sort of lady who… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God,… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I loved the house the way you would any new house, because it is populated by your future, the family of children… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Most of my childhood revolved around wondering when we would be blown up by the Russians. I couldn't stand the news, I… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
A child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ. The… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Combined families often get bad reviews, but the family my children got when they traded away 'the suffocating four-person' nuclear one is… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I say, when your hair turns gray and your children think they know who you are, do the thing that shakes up… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
When I went to first grade and the other children said that their fathers were farmers, I simply didn't believe them. I… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I have reared, or helped to rear, five children and the scariest bit, bar none, is the learning-to-drive part. It has filled… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I was an only child. I've known only children. From this experience, I do believe that the children should outnumber the parents. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Some novelists are luckier than others in the eras of their formative intellectual years, but all Weltanschauungs return, which means that most novelists have… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
There can never be such a thing as a free market, because it is human nature to cheat, monopolize, and buy off others so… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
How will you know a good farmer when you meet him? He will not ask you for any favors. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“We watched the swimmers and sunbathers and I thought about this. Had I faced all the facts? It seemed like I had, but actually,… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“They throw themselves on the waters of the world, and they know they will be borne up.” — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
everything is toxic. That's the point. You can't avoid toxins. Thinking you can is just another symptom of the toxic overload stage. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“Shame is a distinct feeling. I couldn’t look at my hands around the coffee cup or hear my own laments without feeling appalled, wanting… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“She could not have created this moment, these lovely faces, these candles flickering, the flash of the silverware, the fragrances of the food hanging… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Horse racing is really much more intimidating than anything having to do with literature. When I had horses at the racetrack, I would wake… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
