Koren Zailckas Quotes & Sayings

“I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia. As a memoirist, you have to crack your head open and examine every uncomfortable thing in there.”

“I do think anger is so difficult for women. Girls think it undermines their femininity; it's not very ladylike.”

“If mothers are our first teachers, then having a narcissistic one teaches us that human closeness is terrifying, and the world is a heartless, inconsistent place.”

“I have been a ballerina, a cheerleader and a sorority girl. I was the girliest girl alive.”

“I think, for one, we have to really accept that anger is a normal human emotion that can be a positive force for change.”

“I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.”

“I think statistics go in one ear and out the other. All of us respond to stories more than numbers.”

“My short stature may have something to do with my tendency to shout when enraged. How else is anyone going to hear me way down here?”

“Since I've quit drinking, I'm not sure I've found the good life, but I've certainly uncovered a better one.”

“I grew up in a family that despised displays of strong emotion, rage in particular. We stewed. We sulked. When arguments did occur, they were full-scale conniptions, and we regarded them as family failings.”