23 Quotes by Alix Kates Shulman

People often say to me now, “Your work changed my life.” I’m sure that’s an exaggeration, but they say it had a big effect on them and enabled them to change. I’m not sure I believe that a book will cause someone to change.

When you witness the end of a life up close day by day, you begin to understand time and mortality in profound ways. You see time’s relativity, death’s necessity.

My mirror image always had to be interpreted. And for that I sought my reflection in someone else’s eyes.

Fiction is ideally suited to re-creating the important emotional aspects of history.

It’s always difficult to write honestly of one’s deepest feelings, particularly without the protective veil of fiction. But the more difficult, the more rewarding if one succeeds. Rewarding not only to the work but to one’s peace of mind.

Many people spend the ends of their lives alone, and probably a lot of years in the middle of their lives, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience the rewards of solitude.

For many decades my relations with my parents constituted unfinished business. I had dealt with them through sheer avoidance and guilt.

The world is abundant with food for us, and with everything we need, if only we just open our eyes. There’s so much food that gets thrown out or never harvested.

Usually, ordinary histories don’t get the emotional feel of a period. That’s what a novel can do.