Gina Barreca > Quotes

“If anger were mileage, I'd be a very frequent flyer, right up there in First Class.”
― Gina Barreca

“How about "diamonds are a girl's best friends"? Nope. It should be switched around and pointed out, instead, that your best friends are diamonds.”
― Gina Barreca, It's Not That I'm Bitter . . .: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World

“...there is a celebrated aphorism insisting that the best way to live is to 'work like you don't need the money, dance like nobody is watching, and love like you've never been hurt.'...After years of hearing and reading these lines I have decided to tell the truth: the original version is wrong. There is a grave error in the wording of this adage. The correct version should go as follows:

Love like you don't need the money,
Work like nobody is watching,
Dance like you've never been hurt.

See? Doesn't that make more sense?”
― Gina Barreca, It's Not That I'm Bitter . . .: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World

“I see birthdays as a reward for having shown up 365 in a row. It's like getting a badge for attendance.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Rambling speeches and bad writing litter our lives. If talk is cheap, it’s because the supply usually exceeds the demand.”
― Gina Barreca

“As a writer, I roll around in words the way cats roll around in catnip.”
― Gina Barreca

“Some argue the days of furthering or bettering oneself through a liberl arts education are gone, but that's true only if "furthering and bettering" means "making more money"...For many life reveals itself more intimately in literature than in ledgers.”
― Gina Barreca

“Men fake sleep the way women fake orgasms: to be left alone already.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Taking a lot of selfies doesn’t mean you live an examined life.”
― Gina Barreca

“To slur “feminism” into “humanism” is to usurp women’s voices once again, to make the singular feminine into the so-called universal masculine.”
― Gina Barreca

“Boys are rewarded for playing games where they line up by height and then run into walls. Perhaps I'm making that up--or perhaps you should do a Google search for "Guy Runs into Wall for Fun."

Not only do women hold up half the sky; we do it while carrying a 500-pound purse.

From age sixteen to age twenty, a woman's body is a temple. From twenty-one to forty-five, it's an amusement park. From forty-five on, it's a terrarium.

Bring your sense of humor with you at all times. Bring your friends with a sense of humor. If their friends have a sense of humor, invite them, too”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Patriotism is about a desire for progress, not a yearning for repetition.”
― Gina Barreca

“Power is the ability to persuade stupid people to do intelligent things and intelligent people to do stupid things. This is why power is dangerous.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“In short, immaturity is spoiled. And what is spoiled doesn’t ripen. It goes bad early, gets bitter and withers on the vine.”
― Gina Barreca

“Speaking up is important. Yet to speak up without listening is like banging pots and pans together: Even if it gets you attention, it’s not going to get you respect.”
― Gina Barreca

“Until we’re pushing up daisies, it might be good to remind ourselves daily that everything’s coming up roses — for me and for you.”
― Gina Barreca

“More than anything else, I wanted not to be alone — yet all my actions guaranteed I’d be lonely. Like wearing a vest of explosives when you’re coming in for a hug, insatiable need is a form of sabotage.”
― Gina Barreca

“When you enter your next relationship, you become the person you split up with.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Maturity understands that there’s darkness in the world but that there’s no need to dwell in it: we can lighten up and offer illumination to others.”
― Gina Barreca

“I will count my blessings when I am in the doldrums, count to ten when I am quarrelsome, and count on my friends when I need a laugh.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Writers read. Writers read promiscuously, aggressively and relentlessly.”
― Gina Barreca

“Not only do women hold up half the sky; we do it while carrying a 500-pound purse.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“From age sixteen to age twenty, a woman's body is a temple. From twenty-one to forty-five, it's an amusement park. From forty-five on, it's a terrarium.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“We all enter this world crying. Laughter is something we have to learn”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Since little-girlhood, we're trained to find the Big Bad Wolf seductive.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Ever notice there are no clocks in stores? It's like casinos; they don't want you to know how much time you've spent dropping your quarters.”
― Gina Barreca, If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?

“Ever look at a sink full of dishes and think, “Why don’t I just bury these in the backyard?”
― Gina Barreca

“Make your own choices before anyone else makes them for you and way before the house lights are lowered.”
― Gina Barreca

“When I was in my early 30s and appeared on CNN, Oprah, 20/20 and Entertainment Tonight, my loved ones didn’t say, “Good job!” My loved ones said, “The camera adds more than 20 pounds.” One detail-oriented aunt said “Not for nothing, but don’t wear red. You look like an ad for Red Lobster.”
― Gina Barreca

“This year’s vintage is best enjoyed this year. Let’s begin.”
― Gina Barreca