America does not concern itself now with Impressionism. We own no involved philosophy. The psyche of the land is to be found in it...s movement. It is to be felt as a dramatic force of energy and vitality. We move; we do not stand still. We have not yet arrived at the stock-taking stage.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The private buildings [of Virginia] are very rarely constructed of stone or brick; much the greatest proportion being of scantling... and boards, plastered with lime. It is impossible to devise things more ugly, uncomfortable, and happily more perishable.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Throughout much of history, women writers have capitulated to male standards, and have paid too much heed to what Virginia Woolf c...alls "the angel in the house." She is that little ghost who sits on one's shoulder while one writes and whispers, "Be nice, don't say anything that will embarrass the family, don't say anything your man will disapprove of ..." [ellipsis in original] The "angel in the house" castrates one's creativity because it deprives one of essential honesty, and many women writers have yet to win the freedom to be honest with themselves.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
No one knows anybody's name because nobody has a name. You're just your state. I got to where somebody would say "Virginia," and I...'d answer. I was just "Virginia." I wasn't me any more.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
That we can come here today and in the presence of thousands and tens of thousands of the survivors of the gallant army of Norther...n Virginia and their descendants, establish such an enduring monument by their hospitable welcome and acclaim, is conclusive proof of the uniting of the sections, and a universal confession that all that was done was well done, that the battle had to be fought, that the sections had to be tried, but that in the end, the result has inured to the common benefit of all.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Thank God, I never was cheerful. I come from the happy stock of the Mathers, who, as you remember, passed sweet mornings reflectin...g on the goodness of God and the damnation of infants.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Our common stock of words embodies all the distinctions men have found worth drawing, and the connections they have found worth ma...rking, in the lifetimes of many generations; these surely are likely to be more numerous, more sound, since they have stood up to the long test of the survival of the fittest, and more subtle, at least in all ordinary and reasonably practical matters, than any that you or I are likely to think up in our armchairs of an afternoon--the most favored alternative method.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I do not think that literature is the primary instrument for social transformation, but I do think it has potency. So I work to te...ll the truth about people's lives; I work to celebrate struggle, to applaud the tradition of struggle in our community, to bring to center stage all those characters, just ordinary folks on the block, who've been waiting in the wings, characters we thought we had to ignore because they weren't pimp-flashy or hustler-slick or because they didn't fit easily into previously acceptable modes or stock types. I want to lift up some usable truths ...LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »