More than in any other human relationship, overwhelmingly more, motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, and responsible
Interpretation
Motherhood involves a unique level of dedication and attentiveness that surpasses other relationships.
This quote by Tillie Olsen highlights the profound nature of motherhood, emphasizing that it requires an unparalleled commitment to being available and responsive at all times. The responsibilities of a mother are distinct as they demand immediate attention and deep care, reflecting the intense bond and duty that comes with raising a child.
In practice
In a speech at a parenting conference, one could quote this to illustrate the depth of commitment required in parenting.
As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so vehemently an knowledge of his movements that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table--the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.
A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.
If women believed in their husbands they would be a good deal happier and also a good deal more foolish.
It was darkly rumoured that the butler, regarding him with favour such as that stern man had never shown before to mortal boy, had sometimes mingled porter with his table beer to make him strong.
It is only in marriage with the world that our ideals can bear fruit; divorced from it, they remain barren.
I loved you because there was no other place for me to go. We were married because we did not know what else to do with each other. You never knew me, nothing about me, what died inside me, what lived invisibly.
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