Rita Mae Brown

No one remembers her beginnings. Mothers and aunts tell us about infancy and early childhood, hoping we won't forget the past when they had total control over our lives and secretly praying that because of it, we'll include them in our future.

"you can't be a doctor. Only boys can be doctors. Leroy's got to be the doctor."
"You're full of shit, Spiegelglass, Leroy's dumber than I am. I got to be doctor because I'm the smart one and being a girl don't matter."
"You'll see. You think you can do what boys do but you're going to be a nurse, no two ways about it. It doesn't matter about brains, brains don't count. What counts is whether you're a boy or a girl."
I hauled off and belted her one.

In school they told us the president was the best man in the whole country but I knew my father was the best man in the whole country; the country didn't know it, that's all.

Whoever heard of a neurotic frog? Where do humans get off thinking they're the pinnacle of evolution?

The most revolutionary thing you can do is to be yourself, to speak your truth, to open your arms to life including the pain. Passion. Find your passions.

I'm not an addictive personality, I just like getting high, that's all.

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.

I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.

I think love is the wild card of existence. Don’t rule it out. Old as we are, it may still get thrown on the table.

Leroy bet me I couldn’t find a pot of gold at the end, and I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough.

The tax code will never be simplified in our lifetime because it’s not about taxes; it’s about congressmen distributing the pork.

No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who don't love anybody.

If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle.

Because the real worship is not one man, one vote, it’s one man, one dollar. Commerce drives democracy, not vice versa.

I believe in a lively disrespect for most forms of authority.