Quotes by Mignon McLaughlin
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to weave.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Vanity, revenge, loneliness, boredom, all apply: lust is one of the least of the reasons for promiscuity.
McLaughlin, Mignon
We catch frightful glimpses of ourselves in the hostile eyes of others.
McLaughlin, Mignon
There are whole years for which I hope I'll never be cross-examined, for I could not give an alibi.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Children lack morality, but they also lack fake morality.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Men prefer brief praise, pitched high; women are satisfied with praise in a lower key, just so it goes on and on.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The two main hazards of psychoanalysis: that it might fail, and that if it succeeds, you'll never be able to forgive yourself for all those wasted years.
McLaughlin, Mignon
We choose those we like; with those we love, we have no say in the matter.
McLaughlin, Mignon
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Luck: when your burst of energy doesn't run afoul of someone else's.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Acedia is not in every dictionary; just in every heart.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Nostalgia for what we have lost is more bearable than nostalgia for what we have never had...
McLaughlin, Mignon
We are keenly aware of the faults of our friends, but if they like us enough it doesn't matter.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Confession is good for the conscience, but it usually bypasses the soul.
McLaughlin, Mignon
There's an awful lot of blood around that water is thicker than.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The ideal home: big enough for you to hear the children, but not very well.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Your children tell you casually years later what it would have killed you with worry to know at the time.
McLaughlin, Mignon
When hope is hungry, everything feeds it.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.
McLaughlin, Mignon
If you hate your lot but wouldn't trade it, it's not your lot you hate.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Few novels or plays could exist without at least one troublemaker in the group, and perhaps life couldn't either.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Be glad that you're greedy; the national economy would collapse if you weren't.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine.
McLaughlin, Mignon
With men, as with women, the main struggle is between vanity and comfort; but with men, comfort often wins.
McLaughlin, Mignon
What we forgive too freely doesn't stay forgiven.
McLaughlin, Mignon
We have to call it "freedom": who'd want to die for "a lesser tyranny"?
McLaughlin, Mignon
Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man.
McLaughlin, Mignon
We work for praise, and dawdle once we have it.
McLaughlin, Mignon
I wish I'd said it first, and I don't even know who did: The only problems that money can solve are money problems.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Tough and funny and a little bit kind: that is as near to perfection as a human being can be.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Women flirt to keep their stock high, men to get somewhere.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Most of us can easily do two things at once; what's all but impossible is to do one thing at once.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Says the rude child: "No, I won't do it." Says the courteous grown-up: "Yes, I won't do it."
McLaughlin, Mignon
Many of us go through life feeling as an actor might feel who does not like his part, and does not believe in the play.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Without enthusiasm, virtue functions not at all, and vice only poorly.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Anything you lose automatically doubles in value.
McLaughlin, Mignon
A new wound makes all the old ones ache again.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Suburb: a place that isn't city, isn't country, and isn't tolerable.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Don't fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The time to begin most things is ten years ago.
McLaughlin, Mignon
If it came true, it wasn't much of a dream.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Minor vices lead to major ones, but minor virtues stay put.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Many who would not take the last cookie would take the last lifeboat.
McLaughlin, Mignon
True remorse is never just a regret over consequence; it is a regret over motive.
McLaughlin, Mignon
How tired God must be of guilt and loneliness, for that is all we ever bring to Him.
McLaughlin, Mignon
We're all born brave, trusting, and greedy, and most of us remain greedy.
McLaughlin, Mignon
There is always some specific moment when we realize our youth is gone; but years after, we know it was much later.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Few of us could bear to have ourselves for neighbors.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Grasp your opportunities, no matter how poor your health; nothing is worse for your health than boredom.
McLaughlin, Mignon
When women feel they have learned to forgive their mothers - and men, their fathers - all it usually means is that they've decided to allow themselves the same kind of behavior.
McLaughlin, Mignon
The total history of almost anyone would shock almost everyone.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Neurosis is no worse than a bad cold; you ache all over, and it's made you a mess, but you won't die from it.
McLaughlin, Mignon
How strange that the young should always think the world is against them - when in fact that is the only time it is for them.
McLaughlin, Mignon
It's wonderful to watch a pretty woman with character grow beautiful.
McLaughlin, Mignon
Pity all newlyweds. She cooks something nice for him, and he brings her flowers, and they kiss and think: How easy marriage is.
McLaughlin, Mignon