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. She is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear. Let her be. So, all that is in her will not bloom, but in how many does it? There is still enough left… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share
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, roused to do our best, by every good writer, every fine achievement. Would we want one good writer or fine book less? The sense of writers being pitted against each other is bred primarily by the… — Tillie Olsen Copy Share
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
