Quotes By Erica Jong

You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.

Women are not the richer sex. Women are not equal in society.

When I met my husband, I refused to invite him home for Passover because I was embarrassed my mother might serve all the catered dishes in the wrong order.

I write lustily and humorously. It isn't calculated; it's the way I think. I've invented a writing style that expresses who I am.

Where is Hollywood located? Chiefly between the ears. In that part of the American brain lately vacated by God.

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.

You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.

I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to somewhere life is cheaper.

It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and liquid, at once air and stone.

Sadly, because of the enormous gap between rich and poor, some mothers can afford helpers, but many can't. Those who can would be kinder to refrain from criticizing other women.

I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.

All my forebears worked for a living. My grandfather painted portraits. My mother too. My aunt painted seascapes.

At certain historic moments, grandparents took on childrearing responsibilities. In many cultures, they still do. Chinese grandparents who are able to retire at 55 are seen all over Beijing bouncing grandbabies. In the United States, we can't afford to retire at 55.

Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.

No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool. Writers, alas, have to be fools in public, while the rest of the human race can cover its tracks.

In a bad marriage, friends are the invisible glue. If we have enough friends, we may go on for years, intending to leave, talking about leaving - instead of actually getting up and leaving.

Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.

I've never been able to control my public image.

Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man.

And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.

He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him who can give it.

Poetry is the language we speak in the most terrifying or ecstatic passages of our lives. But the very word poetry scares people. They think of their grade school teachers reciting 'Hiawatha' and they groan.

It's hard to do fiction and nonfiction simultaneously.

My grandchildren are fabulous and funny.

Is a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?

I have forgotten my rave reviews and memorized my vicious ones - like most writers.

I don't cook. My mother didn't cook. My daughter doesn't cook.

When I was a ten-year old bookworm and used to kiss the dust jacket pictures of authors as if they were icons, it used to amaze me that these remote people could provoke me to love.

Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.