Sometimes it seems the only accomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations.
Margaret DrabbleRead
Family life itself, that safest, most traditional, most approved of female choices, is not a sanctuary: It is, perpetually, a dangerous place.
Interpretation
Family life is often perceived as safe and traditional, but it can also be perilous and challenging.
In this quote, Margaret Drabble challenges the conventional belief that family life is a secure and nurturing environment exclusive to women. Instead, she asserts that it can be fraught with difficulties and dangers, implying that the complexities and struggles inherent in family life are often overlooked in societal discussions about women's roles and choices.
In practice
In a discussion about modern family dynamics, this quote highlights the complexities that often go unnoticed.
Sometimes it seems the only accomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations.
Our desire to conform is greater than our respect for objective facts.
I'd rather be at the end of a dying tradition, which I admire, than at the beginning of a tradition which I deplore.
If the day ever came when we were able to accept ourselves and our children exactly as we and they are, then, I believe, we would have come very close to an ultimate understanding of what 'good' parenting means.
I want to give my kids the world, but I also want them to appreciate everything, to succeed, to be good people, to enjoy life. This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything.
The lamp sizzled as it burned. It made everything seem close and safe, a little family circle they all knew and trusted. Outside this circle lay everything that was strange and frightening, and the darkness seemed to reach higher and higher and further and further away, right to the end of the world.
It's impossible for most black Americans to construct full family trees. Official census records, used by so many genealogy enthusiasts to piece together their families' pasts, don't include our non-European ancestors.
When God thought of mother, He must have laughed with satisfaction, and framed it quickly - so rich, so deep, so divine, so full of soul, power, and beauty, was the conception.
The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of, 'Can I?' or 'Should I?' It was just, 'You can, you must, you will!' She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.
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