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When I was sixteen, it was simple. Poetry existed; therefore it could be written; and nobody had told me — yet — the many, many reasons why it could not be written by me.

— Margaret Atwood On Writing Poetry (1995)

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More quotes by Margaret Atwood

The Eskimo has fifty-two names for snow because it is important to them; there ought to be as many for love.

Surfacing (1972)

I would rather dance as a ballerina, though faultily, than as a flawless clown.

Lady Oracle (1976)

Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.

The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

War is what happens when language fails.

The Robber Bride (1993)

Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space.

Cat's Eye (1988)

All Margaret Atwood quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Margaret Atwood (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.