--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I just want to say one thing. If I ever…" description: "\"“I just want to say one thing. If I ever write a novel again, it's going to be in defense of weak women, inept and codependent women. I'm going to talk..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg" --- # I just want to say one thing. If I ever write a novel… ![“I just want to say one thing. If I ever write a novel again, it's going to be in defense of weak women, inept and codependent women. I'm going to talk about all the great movies and songs and poetry that focus on such women. I'm going to toast Blanche DuBois. I'm going to celebrate women who…” quote by Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg) > ““I just want to say one thing. If I ever write a novel again, it's going to be in defense of weak women, inept and codependent women. I'm going to talk about all the great movies and songs and poetry that focus on such women. I'm going to toast Blanche DuBois. I'm going to celebrate women who aren't afraid to show their need and their vulnerabilities. To be honest about how hard it can be to plow your way through a life that offers no guarantees about anything. I'm going to get on my metaphorical knees and thank women who fall apart, who cry and carry on and wail and wring their hands because you know what, Midge? We all need to cry. Thank God for women who can articulate their vulnerabilities and express what probably a lot of other people want to say and feel they can't. Those peoples' stronghold against falling apart themselves is the disdain they feel for women who do it for them. Strong. I'm starting to think that's as much a party line as anything else ever handed to women for their assigned roles. When do we get respect for our differences from men? Our strength is our weakness. Our ability to feel is our humanity. You know what? I'll bet if you talk to a hundred strong women, 99 of them would say 'I'm sick of being strong. I would like to be cared for. I would like someone else to make the goddamn decisions, I'm sick of making decisions.' I know this one woman who's a beacon of strength. A single mother who can do everything - even more than you, Midge. I ran into her not long ago and we went and got a coffee and you know what she told me? She told me that when she goes out to dinner with her guy, she asks him to order everything for her. Every single thing, drink to dessert. Because she just wants to unhitch. All of us dependent, weak women have the courage to do all the time what she can only do in a restaurant.”” [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A call to honor women’s vulnerability, acknowledging that strength and weakness coexist, and urging society to respect emotional honesty. **In simple terms:** Celebrate women’s vulnerability as strength. Key Takeaway Value emotional honesty. Themes vulnerability strength gender roles empathy societal expectations Mood hopeful determined Type inspirational advocacy When to use this quote - activism - personal storytelling - support groups Key Concepts feminism psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - How can we protect vulnerable women while honoring their honesty? - What societal changes are needed to value emotional expression? A Different Perspective Vulnerability can be exploited if not protected. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blanche Dubois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blanche-dubois-216509/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fall apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall-apart/) [Falling apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-apart/) [Feel Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-women/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Making decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-decision/) [Making decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-decisions/) [Single mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-mother/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) [Strong women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-women/) [Thank god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thank-god/) [Weak women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak-women/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Women Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-courage-597292/) [Women Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-strong/) ## Related quotes > [It's about believing in yourself and ignoring the fact that men dominate it. 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People who took brave decisions in the service of great causes especially when more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/i-have-been-fascinated-by-men-and-women-of-courage-people-who-took/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [In times of crisis what has made America amazing has been the fact that, throughout our history, throughout the more than 200 years of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-walker/in-times-of-crisis-what-has-made-america-amazing-has-been-the-fact/) [Scott Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-walker/) > [Most women I know have been harassed in some way. And you never wanted to report it, because you were afraid of losing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/most-women-i-know-have-been-harassed-in-some-way-and-you-never-wanted/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [Girls have been suppressed for long. Crimes against women are on the rise because women have the courage to come out in the open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-honey-singh/girls-have-been-suppressed-for-long-crimes-against-women-are-on-the/) [Yo Yo Honey Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-honey-singh/) ## More by Elizabeth Berg > [Never be afraid of doing the thing you know in your heart is right, even if others don't agree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/never-be-afraid-of-doing-the-thing-you-know-in-your-heart-is-right/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [If there were a category in the Olympics for laundry, my mother would have been a gold-medal winner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-there-were-a-category-in-the-olympics-for-laundry-my-mother-would/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“If you say something over and over again, it begins to lose it's meaning... 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And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/the-truth-is-we-usually-only-show-our-unhappiness-to-another-woman-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) [Explore all 350 Elizabeth Berg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I just want to say one thing. If I ever write a novel again, it's going to be in defense of weak women, inept and codependent women. I'm going to talk about all the great movies and songs and poetry that focus on such women. I'm going to toast Blanche DuBois. I'm going to celebrate women who aren't afraid to show their need and their vulnerabilities. To be honest about how hard it can be to plow your way through a life that offers no guarantees about anything. I'm going to get on my metaphorical knees and thank women who fall apart, who cry and carry on and wail and wring their hands because you know what, Midge? We all need to cry. Thank God for women who can articulate their vulnerabilities and express what probably a lot of other people want to say and feel they can't. Those peoples' stronghold against falling apart themselves is the disdain they feel for women who do it for them. Strong. I'm starting to think that's as much a party line as anything else ever handed to women for their assigned roles. When do we get respect for our differences from men? Our strength is our weakness. Our ability to feel is our humanity. You know what? I'll bet if you talk to a hundred strong women, 99 of them would say 'I'm sick of being strong. I would like to be cared for. I would like someone else to make the goddamn decisions, I'm sick of making decisions.' I know this one woman who's a beacon of strength. A single mother who can do everything - even more than you, Midge. I ran into her not long ago and we went and got a coffee and you know what she told me? She told me that when she goes out to dinner with her guy, she asks him to order everything for her. Every single thing, drink to dessert. Because she just wants to unhitch. All of us dependent, weak women have the courage to do all the time what she can only do in a restaurant.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Berg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-write-a-novel-again-it-s-going/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-write-a-novel-again-it-s-going/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/elizabeth-berg-853_books_i-just-want-to-say-one-thing-if-i-ever-w_1125592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I just want to say one thing. 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