"Porches are America's lost rooms."
About Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison — Life and Legacy
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison was a prominent American writer and essayist, celebrated for her insightful exploration of love and identity. Her work, particularly 'The Woman Who Knew Too Much,' delves into the complexities of personal relationships and the multifaceted nature of selfhood. Harrison's key ideas often revolve around the interplay between vulnerability and connection, as reflected in her quote, 'To love is to be vulnerable.' This encapsulates her belief that love demands emotional openness, a theme she navigates with both depth and nuance. Harrison challenged conventional notions of identity, arguing that individuals are not static but rather dynamic beings shaped by their experiences and relationships. Her exploration of this theme is evident in her assertion that 'We are all of us more than one person,' emphasizing the layers of identity that each person embodies. Through her writing, she invites readers to reflect on their own complexities and the societal forces that influence their sense of self. Today, Harrison's quotes resonate with those grappling with their identities and the nature of love. Her ability to articulate the intricacies of human emotion and connection continues to inspire readers, making her work relevant in contemporary discussions about personal identity and relationships.
Quote collection
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison quotes (page 1 of 4)
69 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"The most painful moral struggles are not those between good and evil, but between the good and the lesser good."
"There are no original ideas. There are only original people."
"Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination."
"Our awesome responsibility to ourselves, to our children, and to the future is to create ourselves in the image of goodness, because the future depends on the nobility of our imaginings."
"Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps: there are always failures of love, of will, of imagination. There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships."
"There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships."
"To sleep is an act of faith."
"All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination."
"Food is my drug of choice."
"Persecution always acts as a jell for members of cults; it proves to them, in the absence of history, liturgy, tradition, and doctrine, that they are God's chosen."
"Facts mean nothing to wounded feelings."
"The best work is a fusion of love and praise."
"There is something worse than dying, and that is humiliation - at least so it seemed to me."
"Women's propensity to share confidences is universal. We confirm our reality by sharing."
"To offer the complexities of life as an excuse for not addressing oneself to the simpler, more manageable (trivial) aspects of daily existence is a perversity often indulged in by artists, husbands, intellectuals -- and critics of the Women's Movement."
"truth ... is the first casualty of tyranny."
"My mother was my first jealous lover."
"Rome is all things high and low. It is like God, it accommodates so much."
"[On Werner Erhard, founder of est:] If I wanted a new belief system, I'd choose to believe in God - He's been in business longer than Werner, and He has better music."