Wild Women Talk Back

Think bigger! Be a millionaire, don't marry one.

—Nell Merlino, cofounder of Take Your Daughter to Work Day

I belong to that group of people who move the piano by themselves.

—Eleanor Robson Belmont,

the only time of the month when I can be myself.

to point out the positive side of PMS: “I think of it as

Hope is the denial of reality.

—Margaret Weis, sci-fi specialist

Revolution begins with the self, in the self.

—Toni Cade Bambara, writer

Only dead fish swim with the stream all the time.

—Linda Ellerbee, TV commentator

Taking responsibility for yourself and your happiness gives great freedom to children. . . . Seeing a parent fully embrace life gives the child permission to do the same, just as seeing a parent suffer indicates to the child that suffering is what life is about.

—Robin Norwood, self-help sage

I'm as good a mother as the next repressed, obsessive-compulsive paranoiac.

—Anne Lamott, bestselling single mom

Tranquilizers work only if you follow the advice on the bottle—keep away from children.

—Phyllis Diller, the famously frazzled comedienne