#ed

I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#courses #did #english #english literature #figured

I was directed because I knew I wanted to be a novelist, but I didn't have a very good job or a way of getting published. I found those years to be among the most difficult of my life. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#because #difficult #directed #found #getting

I'm not really an autobiographical writer, though I use lots of stuff from my life to make my stories seem real. But when I actually write about myself, I get very confused. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#actually #autobiographical #confused #get #i

If you talk to geneticists they are constantly finding that your genes are being switched on and off because of the environment. Genes alone do not determine an exact path in your life. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#because #being #constantly #determine #environment

If you think of even Tolstoy or a book like 'Anna Karenina,' you go from character to character, and each section is from the third person perspective of a different character, so you get to see the whole world a little more kaleidoscopically that way. That's traditional narrative manner, and I haven't done a book like that before, but I enjoyed it. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#before #book #character #different #done

It was a recession when I graduated, but I was so unequipped to have a job anyway, I don't think it would have mattered if the economy was booming. I think I was expecting bad jobs. But as it went on through my 20s, I began to wonder how things were going to turn out. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#bad #began #booming #economy #expecting

It wasn't conscious, but I guess that one book is the reaction to the other. The first is so imprisoned in a male point-of-view, and the second is a point-of-view that can go anywhere it wants. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#book #conscious #first #go #guess

More than anything, I think as our country matures, we recognize that women deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. ↗

— Barbara Boxer

#country #deserve #dignity #i #i think

Since 1980, we've used reconciliation 22 times, and out of those times, Republicans used it 16 times. So, earth to my Republican friends, you can have your option but you cannot change these facts. They're in the Congressional Record. ↗

— Barbara Boxer

#change #congressional #earth #facts #friends

We are all different. Yet we are all God's children. We are all united behind this country and the common cause of freedom, justice, fairness, and equality. That is what unites us. ↗

— Barbara Boxer

#cause #children #common #common cause #country