"Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?“


-Anna Quindlen

posted in fear


Even as we enumerate their shortcomings, the rigor of raising children ourselves makes clear to us our mothers' incredible strength. We fear both. If they are not strong, who will protect us? If they are not imperfect, how can we equal them?

Other Quotes You Might Like

Discover more inspiring quotes from our collection

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

-Anna Quindlen

workView Quote
"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

-Anna Quindlen

womenView Quote
"After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough.'"

-Anna Quindlen

womenView Quote
"People always blame the girl she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it."

-Anna Quindlen

wisdomView Quote
"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

-Anna Quindlen

weddingView Quote
"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them."

-Anna Quindlen

trustView Quote

More Quotes About fear

Explore other inspiring quotes in this category

"There's no love more intense than the love we have for our kids - and where there is intense love, there is also intense fear lurking beneath the surface."

-Arianna Huffington

fearView Quote
"You don't have to do everything by the time you're 30. Or 40. All you need is a work ethic. It's what allows you to push through moments of disappointment and self-doubt and fear."

-Candace Bushnell

fearView Quote
"I think interviews can be fine. It's just there's this terrible fear of coming off wrongly or saying something that gets taken out of context."

-Nicholas Hoult

fearView Quote
"Don't fear anything for your letters, they are burnt one by one and I hope you do the same with mine."

-Camille Claudel

fearView Quote
"I think, however, that so long as our present economic and national systems continue, scientific research has little to fear."

-John B. S. Haldane

fearView Quote
"Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it."

-Lionel Richie

fearView Quote