WIST Quotations

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 23:36:33 +0000

I believe you are your work. Don’t trade the stuff of your life, time, for nothing more than dollars. That’s a rotten bargain.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 07 May 2018 16:11:18 +0000

Lead me not into temptation. I can find the way myself.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 14 May 2018 18:54:54 +0000

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 02:09:35 +0000

A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:57:40 +0000

About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 17:44:47 +0000

A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Bingo (1988)

Dave — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 21:13:46 +0000

If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Bingo (1988)
(Source)

The phrase can actually be found prior to Brown's formulation (1, 2), but Brown appears to have been the first to popularize it, and it entered into much wider use after her.

Frequent variant: "If not for the last minute ...."

Brown, Rita Mae -- Bingo, ch. 38 (1988)

Dave — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 18:32:21 +0000

People who care for you inevitably become beautiful.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Bingo, ch. 38 (1988)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- In Her Day, Preface, “A Note to the Feminist Reader” (1976)

Dave — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 20:35:56 +0000

In art as in politics we must deal with people as they are, not as we wish them to be. Only by working with the real can you get closer to the ideal.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
In Her Day, Preface, “A Note to the Feminist Reader” (1976)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Riding Shotgun, ch. 17 (1996)

Dave — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 20:13:57 +0000

Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn’t breaking. It hurts because it’s getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Riding Shotgun, ch. 17 (1996)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual (1988)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Morals are private. Decency is public.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual (1988)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual (1988)

Dave — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 18:06:57 +0000

As a woman, I find it very embarrassing to be in a meeting and realize I’m the only one in the room with balls.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual (1988)
(Source)

On working in the TV and film industry.

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers’ Manual, Part 3, ch. 1 “Words as Separate Units of Consciousness” (1988)

Dave — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:55:17 +0000

Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers’ Manual, Part 3, ch. 1 “Words as Separate Units of Consciousness” (1988)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers’ Manual, Part 4 (1988)

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:41:58 +0000

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers’ Manual, Part 4 (1988)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch (1989)

Dave — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 18:30:05 +0000

Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch (1989)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch, Part 3 “The Work,” “Plot” (1989)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 23:01:40 +0000

I have changed my definition of tragedy. I now think tragedy is not foul deeds done to a person (usually noble in some manner) but rather that tragedy is irresolvable conflict. Both sides/ideas are right.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch, Part 3 “The Work,” “Plot” (1989)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch, Part 3 “The Work,” “The Passive Voice, or The Secret Agent” (1989)

Dave — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:38:33 +0000

Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch, Part 3 “The Work,” “The Passive Voice, or The Secret Agent” (1989)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Starting from Scratch, Part 4 (1988)

Dave — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:42:10 +0000

Remember, too, that you have the right to make mistakes. Exercise it. Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch, Part 4 (1988)
(Source)

Brown popularized the phrase, but it had been expressed before. More information: Good Judgment Depends Mostly on Experience and Experience Usually Comes from Poor Judgment – Quote Investigator.

Brown, Rita Mae -- Sudden Death (1983)

Dave — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 01:01:07 +0000

If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Sudden Death (1983)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Sudden Death (1983)

Dave — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:07:41 +0000

Sport strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Sudden Death (1983)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Venus Envy (1993)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I became a lesbian out of devout Christian charity. All those women out there are praying for a man and I gave them my share.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Venus Envy (1993)
(Source)

Frequently paraphrased as: "My lesbianism is an act of Christian charity. All those women out there are praying for a man, and I'm giving them my share."

Brown, Rita Mae -- Venus Envy, ch. 15 (1993)

Dave — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:40:57 +0000

The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you but yourself.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Venus Envy, ch. 15 (1993)
(Source)

Often paraphrased in the present tense: "The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself."

Brown, Rita Mae -- Venus Envy, ch. 21 (1993)

Dave — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 23:22:16 +0000

Normal is the average of deviance.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Venus Envy, ch. 21 (1993)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Interview in OutSmart (Jan 1998)

Dave — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 21:49:30 +0000

I also think living in the country gives you faith. All you have to do is get up and look at the mountains and look at the other animals to realize that your problems are mostly made up or exacerbated by humans. But human life isn’t necessarily life. There’s so much more out there.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Interview in OutSmart (Jan 1998)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Interview in OutSmart magazine (Jan 1998)

Dave — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 17:33:39 +0000

I ask you not to hate people who treat you badly. … This is easier to write than it is to live but there are ignorant people. Only a few are truly malicious. Hate is a poison. It can spread through your system. Forgive them if you can. Forget them if you must.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Interview in OutSmart magazine (Jan 1998)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- Opening Speech, Gay Olympics, San Francisco (28 Aug 1982)

Dave — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:49:18 +0000

The only queer people are those who don’t love anybody.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Opening Speech, Gay Olympics, San Francisco (28 Aug 1982)