When I was about twenty-one, I published a few poems. Maybe I wrote a couple of stories before, but I really began… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
Literature, fiction, poetry, whatever, makes justice in the world. That's why it almost always has to be on the side of the… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
I developed a definition - which I think becomes less and less accurate as poetry moves into the world - that poetry… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
“I finally understood that I didn’t lack pen and paper but my own memorizing mind. It had been given away with a… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
When you think of things that influenced your life, Mother Goose influenced more people than almost any other thing, the rhythms of… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
I read a lot. I liked a tremendous number of poets and writers. The person whose work I liked the most was… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
Writing poetry, which for me was then saying how I felt about this and that, didn't help me to understand the world… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
“Near home I ran through our park, where I had aired my children on weekends and late-summer afternoons. I stopped at the northeast playground,… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
Old age is not a good thing. It can be really hard, and those of us who have it a little easier should keep… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
Well, by now you must know yourself, honey, whatever you do, life don't stop. It only sits a minute and dreams a dream. — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
The women's movement was coming, but I didn't know it in 1956-1957, when I began to write. — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
It wasn't until I lived in the countryside that I began to understand the life of the countryside and the people in it and… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
…I go through a story for lies. I might discover the lie of trying to show off. Sometimes they’re lies of character. Sometimes they… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
I didn't intend. The word "intend" is the wrong word for what I do. It's just that it's something you do, and you can't… — Grace Paley Copy Share Image
