“I've wanted to want it. I should think it would be exciting to become a dissolute woman.”

“The question you should be asking isn't, "What do I want?" or "What are my goals?" but "What would excite me?”

“I think," Ella said, "that what a woman does or doesn't do should be up to the woman, and she should make up her own mind and not change it when the wind starts to blow. I think a woman should be who she is, not what others expect her to be. And if she wants to go to a dance looking for a man, she should go and not feel like she has to explain herself. And if she want to have her own farm, she should do that and not feel like she has to explain that, either. And…I think you should be quiet now.”

“I am becoming the woman I've wanted,grey at the temples,soft body, delighted,cracked up by lifewith a laugh that's known bitterbut, past it, got better,knows she's a survivor--that whatever comes,she can outlast it.I am becoming a deepweathered basket.I am becoming the woman I've longed for,the motherly loverwith arms strong and tender,the growing up daughterwho blushes surprises.I am becoming full moonsand sunrises.I find her becoming,this woman I've wanted,who knows she'll encompass,who knows she's sufficient,knows where she's goingand travels with passion.Who remembers she's precious,but knows she's not scarce--who knows she is plenty,plenty to share.”

“I never wanted to see half the things I've seen, and I've never seen half the things I wanted to. I don't think wanting comes into it. You'd best go all the same.”

“The woman I was yesterday, introduced me to the woman I am today; which makes me very excited about meeting the woman I will become tomorrow. ”