--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But…" description: "\"Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their only relationship to a man is having. Either owning or being owned.\" — Ursula K. Le Guin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg" --- # Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their… ![“Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their only relationship to a man is having. Either owning or being owned.” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg) > “Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their only relationship to a man is having. Either owning or being owned.” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women are often defined by ownership dynamics, limiting their agency. **In simple terms:** Women face ownership roles. Key Takeaway Challenge patriarchal norms. Themes gender power relationships ownership society Mood critical reflective Type social philosophical When to use this quote - workplace policies - educational curricula - media representation Key Concepts feminism social critique identity Questions to Reflect On - How do power structures shape personal identity? - What steps can empower equitable relationships? A Different Perspective Not all cultures reflect this dynamic; context varies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Owning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owning/) ## Related quotes > [“Love exists in itself, not relying on owning or being owned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/love-exists-in-itself-not-relying-on-owning-or-being-owned/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [A man perceives himself as owning and being owned by a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/a-man-perceives-himself-as-owning-and-being-owned-by-a-woman/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [“There was a certain satisfaction to it, not owning anything and not being owned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-paulson-ellis/there-was-a-certain-satisfaction-to-it-not-owning-anything-and-not/) Mary Paulson-Ellis > [I think there's something very lovely and hilarious about exploring the particular neuroses of the female mind. It's just not the same thing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizzy-caplan/i-think-there-s-something-very-lovely-and-hilarious-about-exploring/) [Lizzy Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizzy-caplan/) > [“It is difficult to exaggerate the adverse influence of the precepts and practices of religion upon the status and happiness of woman. Owing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hypatia-bradlaugh-bonner/it-is-difficult-to-exaggerate-the-adverse-influence-of-the-precepts/) [Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hypatia-bradlaugh-bonner/) > [“Men see objects, women see the relationship between objects. Whether the objects need each other, love each other, match each other. It is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/men-see-objects-women-see-the-relationship-between-objects-whether/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [I think it's empowering for women to be in a relationship or single and have their own independence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-roberts/i-think-it-s-empowering-for-women-to-be-in-a-relationship-or-single/) [Ashley Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-roberts/) > [There's a fascinating school of thought that some women are relationship addicts. You get really strung out on a guy who's not returning your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-snow/there-s-a-fascinating-school-of-thought-that-some-women-are/) [Phoebe Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-snow/) > [“Women get into a relationship hoping a man will change, and he never does; men get into a relationship hoping the woman don't change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-frankel/women-get-into-a-relationship-hoping-a-man-will-change-and-he-never/) [Valerie Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-frankel/) > [“In the end, it seems to me that forgiveness may be the only realistic antidote we are offered in love, to combat the inescapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/in-the-end-it-seems-to-me-that-forgiveness-may-be-the-only-realistic/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [There were many women around. We all had a relationship with each other that was very strong. And all of our minds kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynette-fromme/there-were-many-women-around-we-all-had-a-relationship-with-each/) [Lynette Fromme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynette-fromme/) > [“Men love war because it allows them to look serious. Because they imagine it is the one thing that stops women laughing at them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/men-love-war-because-it-allows-them-to-look-serious-because-they/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Owning is owing, having is hoarding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/owning-is-owing-having-is-hoarding/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Owning a book is a third of the goal. The others are actually reading it and applying it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-wayne/owning-a-book-is-a-third-of-the-goal-the-others-are-actually-reading/) Israel Wayne > [There are a lot of impractical things about owning a Porsche. But they're all offset by the driving experience. It really is unique. Lamborghinis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-leary/there-are-a-lot-of-impractical-things-about-owning-a-porsche-but-they/) [Kevin O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-leary/) ## More by Ursula K. Le Guin > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Aeneas' mother is a star?" "No; a goddess." I said cautiously, "Venus is the power that we invoke in spring, in the garden, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/aeneas-mother-is-a-star-no-a-goddess-i-said-cautiously-venus-is-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“. . . chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/chronosophy-does-involve-ethics-because-our-sense-of-time-involves/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“If both you and your plane are on time, the airport is merely a diffuse, short, miserable prelude to the intense, long, miserable plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-both-you-and-your-plane-are-on-time-the-airport-is-merely-a/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The author is not impartial. Dystopia is not tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-author-is-not-impartial-dystopia-is-not-tragedy/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol be twisted aside, and the lie come to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/between-thought-and-spoken-word-is-a-gap-where-intention-can-enter/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-no-control-over-my-writing-i-have-lots-of-good-intentions-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I did a lot today. That is, I did something. The only thing I have ever done. I pressed a button. It took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-did-a-lot-today-that-is-i-did-something-the-only-thing-i-have-ever/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Hector had no virtue?” “Of course he did. He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Exception quotes > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [I've always believed that humans are good at heart. But there's always the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carlson/i-ve-always-believed-that-humans-are-good-at-heart-but-there-s-always/) [Amy Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carlson/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [I really can't live without my In-N-Out burgers. Honestly, I can't. Even when I'm doing the whole no-carb thing occasionally, I make an exception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/i-really-can-t-live-without-my-in-n-out-burgers-honestly-i-can-t-even/) [Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/) > [Alright, all right," I said. "What if I tell you a story, instead?" Highlanders loved stories, and Jamie was no exception. "Oh, aye, "…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/alright-all-right-i-said-what-if-i-tell-you-a-story-instead/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [But Margaret went less abroad, among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/but-margaret-went-less-abroad-among-machinery-and-men-saw-less-of/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [My Chinese zodiac is a dog. But I'm an exception because of how much I love cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-wu/my-chinese-zodiac-is-a-dog-but-i-m-an-exception-because-of-how-much-i/) [Jason Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-wu/) > [ I don't know if I know anyone, with the exception of the early inventors of rock music \[who wasn't influenced by something\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-don-t-know-if-i-know-anyone-with-the-exception-of-the-early/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) Mark Lester > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. And everything that I learn, I learn for a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/i-have-no-admiration-for-culture-i-have-no-reserve-knowledge-no/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I will forever stick up for Catholics and Christians in general. With a small number of very horrible exceptions, they do play by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-will-forever-stick-up-for-catholics-and-christians-in-general-with/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [“There never has been an artistic age, or an artistic people, since the beginning of the world. The artist has always been, and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-never-has-been-an-artistic-age-or-an-artistic-people-since-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Melancholy has ceased to be an individual phenomenon, an exception. It has become the class privilege of the wage earner, a mass state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/melancholy-has-ceased-to-be-an-individual-phenomenon-an-exception-it/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) Browse all 1,177 Exception quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their only relationship to a man is having. Either owning or being owned.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-most-women-their-only/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exception" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-most-women-their-only/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/ursula-k-le-guin-138_exception_anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-mos_795649.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most women, their only relationship to a man is having. Either owning…” — Ursula K. Le Guin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Anyhow they’re always exceptions. But most...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-most-women-their-only/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/anyhow-they-re-always-exceptions-but-most-women-their-only/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```