“Semi-colons only prove that the author has been to college.”

“Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays.”

“I have known many graduates of Bryn Mawr. They are all of the same mold. They have all accepted the same bright challenge: something is lost that has not been found, something's at stake that has not been won, something is started that has not been finished, something is dimly felt that has not been fully realized. They carry the distinguishing mark – the mark that separates them from other educated and superior women: the incredible vigor, the subtlety of mind, the warmth of spirit, the aspiration, the fidelity to past and to present. As they grow in years, they grow in light. As their minds and hearts expand, their deeds become more formidable, their connections more significant, their husbands more startled and delighted. I once held a live hummingbird in my hand. I once married a Bryn Mawr girl. To a large extent they are twin experiences. Sometimes I feel as though I were a diver who had ventured a little beyond the limits of safe travel under the sea and had entered the strange zone where one is said to enjoy the rapture of the deep.”

“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.”

“It is quite possible that an animal has spoken to me and that I didn't catch the remark because I wasn't paying attention.”

“But real life is only one kind of life—there is also the life of the imagination.”

“new york provides not only a continuing excitation but also a spectacle that is continuing.”