I had relationships with men as well as women. I wasn't choosing; I didn't think I had to.
Interpretation
The quote expresses openness in romantic relationships, highlighting a lack of confinement to traditional norms regarding gender.
Jeanette Winterson reflects on her experiences with relationships, suggesting that her attraction to both men and women was natural and unforced. She emphasizes the idea that love and connection should not be restricted by societal labels or expectations, advocating for the acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and the fluidity of attraction.
In practice
This quote could be shared in a discussion about LGBTQ+ rights and the importance of recognizing all kinds of love.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
She was not good on the phone. She needed the face, the pattern of eyes, nose, trembling mouth... People talking were meant to look at a face, the disastrous cupcake of it, the hide-and-seek of the heart dashing across. With a phone, you said words, but you never watched them go in. You saw them off at the airport but never knew whether there was anyone there to greet them when they got off the plane.
Something in the human psyche confuses beauty with the right to be loved. The briefest glance at human folly reveals that good looks and worthiness operate independently. Yet countless socializing forces, from Aunt Clara to the latest perfume ad, reinforce beliefs like 'If I were pretty enough, I would be loved.'
Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.
Part of the reason people don't talk about their loneliness is that they feel they will be judged for it.
Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses; they last while they last.
I really wasn't heavy in high school. But no one feels right in their own skin, particularly in high school.
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