In my time and neighborhood (and in my soul) there was only one standard by which a woman measured success: did some man want her?

Quote by Jessamyn West

Topics: Jessamyn West Quotes

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the...

Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the...

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing.

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing.

Memory is a magnet. It will pull to it and hold only material nature has...

Memory is a magnet. It will pull to it and hold only material nature has...

The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future.

The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future.

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.

A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

If you train people properly, they won't be able to tell a drill from the...

If you train people properly, they won't be able to tell a drill from the...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

It is very east to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

It is very east to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

If you want a baby, have a new one. Don't baby the old one.

If you want a baby, have a new one. Don't baby the old one.

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing

The source of one's joy is also often the source of one's sorrow.

The source of one's joy is also often the source of one's sorrow.

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is...

Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is...

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.

I kind of like things slightly out of tune. It makes me feel... intoxicated almost......

I kind of like things slightly out of tune. It makes me feel... intoxicated almost......