Margaret Atwood

The basic Female body comes with the following accessories: garter belt, panty-girdle, crinoline, camisole, bustle, brassiere, stomacher, chemise, virgin zone, spike heels, nose ring, veil, kid gloves, fishnet stockings, fichu, bandeau, Merry Widow, weepers, chokers, barrettes, bangles, beads, lorgnette, feather boa, basic black, compact, Lycra stretch one-piece with modesty panel, designer peignoir, flannel nightie, lace teddy, bed, head.

— Margaret Atwood

If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.

— Margaret Atwood

Never pray for justice, because you might get some.

— Margaret Atwood

Men are not to be told anything they might find too painful; the secret depths of human nature, the sordid physicalities, might overwhelm or damage them. For instance, men often faint at the sight of their own blood, to which they are not accustomed. For this reason you should never stand behind one in the line at the Red Cross donor clinic.

— Margaret Atwood

She even had a kind of special position among men: she was an exception, she fitted none of the categories they commonly used when talking about girls; she wasn't a cock-teaser, a cold fish, an easy lay or a sneaky bitch; she was an honorary person. She had grown to share their contempt for most women.

— Margaret Atwood

Popular art is the dream of society; it does not examine itself.

— Margaret Atwood

A word after a word after a word is power.

— Margaret Atwood

I've never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It's probably because they have forgotten their own.

— Margaret Atwood

[Why is it] there are never any evil stepfathers.

— Margaret Atwood

Men such as him do not have to clean up the messes they make, but we have to clean up our own messes, and theirs into the bargain. In that way, they are like children, they do not have to think ahead, or worry about the consequences of what they do.

— Margaret Atwood

Men’s bodies are the most dangerous things on earth.

— Margaret Atwood

Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I’ve found; but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them.

— Margaret Atwood

If a stranger taps you on the ass and says, “How’s the little lady today!” you will probably cringe. But if he’s an American, he’s only being friendly.

— Margaret Atwood

Nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die from.

— Margaret Atwood