Compared to men writers of like distinction and years of life, few women writers have had lives of unbroken productivity, or leave behind a 'body of work.' Early beginnings, then silence; or clogged late ones (foreground silences); long periods between… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
More than in any other human relationship, overwhelmingly more, motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, and responsible — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
“Mazie sits with a sense of non-being over her – of it being someone other than she sitting there timeless, suspended in a dusky… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this over the years, myself so nearly remaining mute and having to let writing die over and over again in me. These are not natural silences--what Keats called agonie ennuyeuse (the tedious agony)--that necessary time for renewal,… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share
She would not exchange her solitude for anything. Never again to be forced to move to the rhythms of others. — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
That's what I want to be when I grow up, just a peaceful wreck holding hands with other peaceful wrecks. — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
“She kept too much in herself. Her life was such that she had to keep too much in herself. My wisdom came too late.… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
Think about all that we've lost that has been said orally because nobody was taking it down. I feel very fortunate to live in… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
Literature is a place for generosity and affection and hunger for equals - not a prizefight ring. We are increased, confirmed in our medium,… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
Better mankind born without mouths and stomachs than always to worry about money to buy, to shop, to fix, to cook, to wash, to… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share Image
