--- title: "1 Family Curse Quotes By Michael Cunningham" description: "1 Family Curse quotes by Michael Cunningham. Plus more from Michael Cunningham and more Family Curse sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f0/michael-cunningham-1120_desire_i-wanted-a-settled-life-and-a-shocking-o_1251381.png" --- > [“I wanted a settled life and a shocking one. Think of Van Gogh, cypress trees and church spires under a sky of writhing snakes. I was my father's daughter. I wanted to be loved by someone like my tough judicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/i-wanted-a-settled-life-and-a-shocking-one-think-of-van-gogh-cypress/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f0/michael-cunningham-1120_desire_i-wanted-a-settled-life-and-a-shocking-o_1251381.png) ## More by Michael Cunningham > [“Mizzy has wandered into the garden. Carole looks contemplatively at him, says, "Lovely boy." "My wife's insanely younger brother. He's one of those kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/mizzy-has-wandered-into-the-garden-carole-looks-contemplatively-at/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“Zoe loved Trancas's mother. She respected her exhausted and ironic hope for rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/zoe-loved-trancas-s-mother-she-respected-her-exhausted-and-ironic/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The lives great artists live and the books they write are two very different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-lives-great-artists-live-and-the-books-they-write-are-two-very/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“...a full week of their mother's quiet fury over the fun they don't seem to be having and their father's dogged attempts to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/a-full-week-of-their-mother-s-quiet-fury-over-the-fun-they-don-t-seem/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/oh-all-you-immigrants-and-visionaries-what-do-you-hope-to-find-here/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She wants to have baked a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-wants-to-have-baked-a-cake-that-banishes-sorrow-even-if-only-for/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And yet, it gives Peter nothing. Not now. Not today. Not when he needs... more. More than this well-executed idea. More than the shark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-yet-it-gives-peter-nothing-not-now-not-today-not-when-he-needs/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [He insists on a version of you that is funnier, stranger, more eccentric and prfound thatn you suspect yourself to be--capable of doing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/he-insists-on-a-version-of-you-that-is-funnier-stranger-more/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The worst are full of passionate intensity while the best lack all conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-worst-are-full-of-passionate-intensity-while-the-best-lack-all/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And here he is, letting the massive steel street door click shut behind him, standing at the top of the three iron steps that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-here-he-is-letting-the-massive-steel-street-door-click-shut/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [It's the world, you live in it, even if some boy has made a fool of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-s-the-world-you-live-in-it-even-if-some-boy-has-made-a-fool-of-you/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She's had a long life. Now she's going to the Lord." "Frankly it creeps me out a little when you say things like that,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-s-had-a-long-life-now-she-s-going-to-the-lord-frankly-it-creeps/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Any other vexations to report?" he asks. "I love the word 'vexations.'" "It's the 'x.' Nice to jump off a 'v' and bite into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/any-other-vexations-to-report-he-asks-i-love-the-word-vexations-it-s/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/dead-we-are-revealed-in-our-true-dimensions-and-they-are-surprisingly/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-curse/michael-cunningham/#itemlist", "name": "1 Family Curse Quotes By Michael Cunningham", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wanted a settled life and a shocking one. Think of Van Gogh, cypress trees and church spires under a sky of writhing snakes. I was my father's daughter. I wanted to be loved by someone like my tough judicious mother and I wanted to run screaming through the headlights with a bottle in my hand. That was the family curse. We tended to nurse flocks of undisciplined wishes that collided and canceled each other out. The curse implied that if we didn't learn to train our desires in one direction or another we were likely to end up with nothing. Look at my father and mother today. I married in my early twenties. When that went to pieces I loved a woman. At both of those times and at other times, too, I believed I had focused my impulses and embarked on a long victory over my own confusion. Now, in my late thirties, I knew less than ever about what I wanted. In place of youth's belief in change I had begun to feel a nervous embarrassment that ticked inside me like a clock. I'd never meant to get this far in such an unfastened condition. 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