Nancy Rundle

“I just want you to know me.”
― Charlotte Byrd, Tell Me to Stop

“Before I began research for this book I was not consciously aware that women were aggressive in indirect ways, that they gossiped and ostracized each other incessantly, and did not acknowledge their own envious and competitive feelings. I now understand that, in order to survive as a woman, among women, one must speak carefully, cautiously, neutrally, indirectly; one must pay careful attention to what more socially powerful women have to say before one speaks; one must learn how to flatter, manipulate, aree with, and appease them. And, if one is hurt or offended by another woman, one does not say so outright; one expresses it indirectly, by turning others against her.
Of course, I refuse to learn these "girlish" lessons.”
― Phyllis Chesler, Woman's Inhumanity to Woman

“How do you know me?” I ask.
Now, it’s his turn to look down at the floor. Now, it’s his turn to hesitate.
“You have to tell me or I won’t even entertain this offer,”

“You owe me a debt, Olive,” he says, slowly. “I don’t have to explain anything to you beyond stating the terms of how you can replay it.”
― Charlotte Byrd, Tell Me to Stop

“The idea that women's strong attachments to each other are what make them so vulnerable is horrifying. I count my close friendships with a few girls that I know as one of the best things I have going for me right now. My love for them leaves me open to hurt, but ... all love does, or at least that's the cliche. Perhaps girls and women do come to love each other too quickly, or once they are trapped into appearing as though they love one another, they don't want to back out of it. That is probably true. But a fear of confrontation in relationships is the downside. The ability to love easily is a positive.”
― Phyllis Chesler, Woman's Inhumanity to Woman