When Tolstoy wrote that all happy families are alike, what he meant was that there are no happy families. Susan Cheever More Quotes by Susan Cheever More Quotes From Susan Cheever You mustn’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out. Susan Cheever open-minded brain fall Addiction isnt about substance - you arent addicted to the substance, you are addicted to the alteration of mood that the substance brings. Susan Cheever addiction mood substance I think 12-step programs really work, rehab really works, certain types of therapies and talking to other addicts really work. There are a lot of things that work - that isn't the problem. The problem is getting the addicts to say they're addicts. The problem is admitting it. Susan Cheever rehab talking thinking There is no other closeness in human life like the closeness between a mother and her baby - chronologically, physically, and spiritually they are just a few heartbeats away from being the same person. Susan Cheever heartbeat mother baby All writers have strengths and weaknesses. I am terrified of being boring, so I write short, compressed stories that sometimes don't give a reader time to think about what they have read. I struggle to slow down. Susan Cheever struggle writing thinking If a woman is surrounded by lovers or if a woman has a lot of guys asking her out, that's considered wonderful. As a woman who's slept with a lot of men, I've always been complimented on my ability to attract men. Susan Cheever guy asking men Our [western] culture embraces sex addiction. If I drink too much or rack up credit-card debt or lose the rent in Vegas, that's bad. But if I have many lovers, that's good. Susan Cheever vegas addiction sex Womens currency is their looks. Like it or not, the most powerful woman is an 18-year-old woman. Susan Cheever powerful looks years There is no such thing as expecting too much. Susan Cheever expecting optimistic too-much Writers often write their best when they are feeling their worst Susan Cheever worst feelings writing I believe that the memoir is the novel of the 21st century; it’s an amazing form that we haven’t even begun to tap…we’re just getting started figuring out what the rules are. Susan Cheever century form believe I don't really think of writing as a career. It's something that happened to me. By working harder than I knew it was possible to work, I have become passable at it. Susan Cheever writing thinking Personal experience is the lightning of the soul; it transforms the heart in ways that leave the brain behind. Susan Cheever soul brain heart Pregnancy is difficult for women but it is even more difficult for men. Susan Cheever difficult pregnancy men The birth of a child is in many ways the end of a marriage - marriage including a child has to be reinvented, and reinvented at a time when both husband and wife are under unprecedented stress and the wife is exhausted, physically drained, and emotionally in shock. A man's conflict between wanting his child to have a mother and wanting to have the mother to himself is potentially intolerable. Susan Cheever husband mother children Obsession is so extreme and so hard to imagine with the rational mind that it has a science-fiction-like quality to it-it's almost as if the obsessed one has been taken over by a replica, a pod, a facsimile of the rational person. Susan Cheever quality taken mind Love is a great wrecker of peace of mind. Susan Cheever mind love-is inspirational Death is terrifying because it is so ordinary. It happens all the time. Susan Cheever happens ordinary death There is some consensus: There's obsession, there's never satiety, and there's always remorse. For me, the big thing is that you're always breaking a promise - for example, you promise yourself you're just going to have coffee with a man, then before you know it, you're in bed together. Susan Cheever coffee men promise A fierce literary woman with a penchant for married men, Margaret Fuller was ultimately torn between motherhood and her final career as a political reporter. Susan Cheever motherhood careers men
