Quotes by Women

by Anna Kathryn lanier

To celebrate Women’s History Month, I’m listing quotes by famous (and maybe not so famous) women. I also have links to a websites or articles page about the women. So, check them out.  And read all the way through to discover information about my contest.


It is not easy to be a pioneer -- but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world. – Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman in the United States to earn a medical degree, (1821-1910)

We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn. - Mary Catherine Bateson, writer and cultural anthropologist


Instead of getting hard ourselves and trying to compete, women should try and give their best qualities to men - bring them softness, teach them how to cry. – Joan Baez, American folksinger, (1941- )


One should hate very little, because it's extremely fatiguing. One should despise much, forgive often, and never forget. Pardon does not bring with it forgetfulness; at least not for me. - Sarah Bernhardt, actress (1845-1923)


It will not do to say that it is out of woman's sphere to assist in making laws, for if that were so, then it should be also out of her sphere to submit to them. - Amelia Jenks Bloomer, suffragist (1818 - 1894)


The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power. - Toni Morrison, writer (1931 - )


Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer...it is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. - Charlotte Brontë, writer (1816-1854)


I think the key is for women not to set any limits. - Martina Navratilova, tennis star (October 18, 1956 - )


I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England, too. - Queen Elizabeth I, ruler of England (1533-1603)


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (1884-1962)

Contest – What is your favorite quote by a woman? All those who comment will be eligible for a drawing for Ladies First by Lynn Santa Lucia. I’ll draw for a winner on Monday, March 21.

Anna Kathryn Lanier
http://www.aklanier.com/
http://www.annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/  

A Little Inspiration, Please…

Most of the posts here at Seduced by History are about…incorporating history into the stories we write. Today, I thought I’d change things up by talking more about my own personal history in the writing business.

For one thing—it took me a long time to see my first novel published (I’m now looking forward to my third book coming out in September.) Although my manuscript did very well making the final round in several contests, I was slow to send it out to agents and publishers. It took me awhile to develop a thick skin. When I tweaked the beginning, it suddenly became a finalist in the Golden Heart Competition. From there, it caught the eye of Jenny Hutton at Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.

I kept the hope to see my story in print alive by a few concepts I’ll share with you here.

1. I took heart in the rejection letters of famous authors. If they could keep sending out their “baby”, then I could.

THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT was turned down so many times, Beatrix Potter initially self-published it.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language." Editor of the San Francisco Examiner to Rudyard Kipling.

Tony Hillerman’s agent told him, ‘Get rid of the Indian stuff’

Mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark recently received a $60 plus million dollar advance on her next five books, but this is what happened when she was sending out her manuscript "Journey Back to Love" in the early 1960s: "We found the heroine as boring as her husband did."

To writer Samuel Johnson (though I don't know which book the editor was referring to): "Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."

2. I took heart in how they persevered. If they could, then I could. Here are the number of times they were rejected before selling...

Dr. Seuss – 27

Luis L'Amour – 349

JK Rowling –

Harry Potter 12

John Grisham – 26 J

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen -- Chicken Soup for the Soul 140

Frank Herbert—Dune 23

Stephen King – Carrie 30

Meg Cabot— The Princess Diaries 17

Richard Adams – Watership Down 26

Margaret Mitchell— Gone with the Wind 38

3. I gathered inspirational quotes and read them daily to internalize them.

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” – Henry Ford

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your dreams. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you too, can become great.”- Mark Twain

“I dwell in possibility.”- Emily Dickenson

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”-Eleanor Roosevelt

"Don’t give up, don’t lose hope, don’t sell out." Christopher Reeve

“Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.” Don Delillo

“To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gift.” Steve Prefountaine

“I believe the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.” –Maya Angelou

~~~~~

During this time I continued to study the craft of writing, continued to write, and continued to hope. And then one morning, I received the call I’d been waiting for.

For those of you that are going through, or have gone through the same thing, what do you do to keep steady on your course toward your goals--whether they are writing or something else you hope for?