The Quotable Woman: Words of Wisdom from Mother Teresa, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Hepburn, and More - hardcover

"If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens."--Grandma MosesOne glance at the pages of "The Quotable Woman" and you'll be inspired by the touching, fascinating, and sometimes outrageous musings of some of the world's most interesting women throughout the ages. Teeming with insight, humor, passion, and a touch of self-deprecation, this compendium of selected quotes, quips, and words of wisdom speaks to the soul, mind, and heart, while it transcends the sexes and ages with its perceptiveness on everything from the banal to the profound.Ranging from Julia Child, Marie Antoinette, Mother Teresa, and Margaret Thatcher, this treasure of observations and opinions showcases the intuitiveness that women have on everything from activism and education to aerobics and gardening. Here is Abigail Adams on adversity ("It is not in the still calm of life... that great characters are formed. Great necessities call out great virtues"); Margaret Atwood's musings on adulthood ("Another belief of mine; that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise"); and Joyce Carol Oates's poignant take on age ("I used to think that getting old was about vanity--but actually it's about losing people you love").Organized alphabetically into dozens of thematic sections that include "Anger," "Children," "Education," "Love," and "Politics," "The Quotable Woman" gives you an engaging and diverse collection of viewpoints to turn to for perspective and enlightenment. Whether you're taking solace in the wisdom of a kindred spirit or looking for a witty anecdote, you'll find it all in this wealth of observations from such disparate voices as Elizabeth Taylor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anne Frank, Fran Lebowitz, and Coco Chanel.From Gilda Radner's humorous take on clothes ("I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch") to Rebecca West's view on the human race ("If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: