- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
Mother Quotes
On mothers, their advice, and what stays with us.
Several of these lines trace back to childhood impressions left by a mother's words, whether about appearance, privacy, or simply keeping close watch. For prayer-toned reflections, see Prayers.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Bathing
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- Nov 07, 2020
At the age of two-and-a-half, I was run down by a truck. I had gone rogue in the house while my mother was bathing my sister. I went outside and met a friend who promised me candy. Afterward, I walked back by myself across the road where I fell down in the street. A 15-year-old boy delivering bread struck me down.
- Girl
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- Nov 07, 2020
My father worked in a bank while my mother looked after my four brothers and me, the only girl in our family.
- Home
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- Nov 07, 2020
I was definitely a tomboy. My mother liked to dress me differently, but it was her loss when I came home with mud in my hair every day. I've always been more comfortable with guys; I don't know why.
- Know
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- Nov 07, 2020
I used to steal my father's cologne, and it was so strong. My mother would always know when I did because it was so intrusive. That's why I like Evolution - it's a strong yet subtle scent.
- Time
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- Nov 07, 2020
I'm having to learn to get the balance right, because if you want a full-time career, and you also want to be a mother who is there for your child, then you have to make sure that when you do spend time together, you're really there for them.
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
I was born in South Africa during apartheid, a system of laws that made it illegal for people to mix in South Africa. And this was obviously awkward because I grew up in a mixed family. My mother's a black woman, South African Xhosa woman... and my father's Swiss, from Switzerland.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
Careful?! Was my mother careful when she stabbed me in the heart with a coat hanger while I was still in womb?
- Say
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- Nov 07, 2020
I'm very grounded - that's how I would put it. If you met my mother, you'd probably say the same thing about her. I had a very sane upbringing, though some very insane things happened.
- Change Things
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- Nov 07, 2020
Winning that first game was so important; my mother always said that the first game of the second set was the chance to keep it going if you were ahead or change things if you were behind.
- Never
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- Nov 07, 2020
For years following the death of my mother, I wanted to write about her. I started writing what I thought of as personal essays about growing up as her child, but I never could finish any of them. I think I was too close to that loss, and too eager to try and resolve things, to make her death make sense.
- First
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- Nov 07, 2020
I had written here and there about my mother in my poems. There are poems for her in my first and second books.
- May
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- Nov 07, 2020
I am keenly aware that in writing about my mother, I am writing about my aunts' sister, and that in writing about my grandmother, I'm writing about their mother. I know that my honesty about how my view of these people has changed over the years may be painful.
- Mom
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- Nov 07, 2020
I'm extremely blessed to have the extraordinary mother that I have, and I don't mean Diana Ross, I mean the mother. My mom paved a road that didn't exist, as did Oprah.
- Clothes
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- Nov 07, 2020
My mom had beautiful clothes. My mom is elegant; my mom is glamorous. But my mom is also really real, and I grew up with a mother who had babies crawling on her head and spitting up on her when she was wearing gorgeous, expensive things, and it was never an issue.
- Never
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- Nov 07, 2020
I've never felt like I was in my mother's shadow. If anything, I felt like I was in her embrace.
- Love
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- Nov 07, 2020