32 Quotes by Tillie Olsen

The clock talked loud. I threw it away, it scared me what it talked.

There are worse words than cuss-words, there are words that hurt.

And when is there time to remember, to sift, to weigh, to estimate, to total?

I know that I haven’t powers enough to divide myself into one who earns and one who creates.

Time granted does not necessarily coincide with time that can be most fully used.

Women have the right to say: this is surface, this falsifies reality, this degrades.

Be critical. Women have the right to say:This is surface, this falsifies reality, this degrades.

Literature is a place for generosity and affection and hunger for equals - not a prizefight ring. We are increased, confirmed in our medium, roused to do our best, by every good writer, every fine achievement. Would we want one good writer or fine book less? The sense of writers being pitted against each other is bred primarily by the workings of the commercial marketplace, and by critics lauding one writer at the expense of another while ignoring the existence of nearly all.

Writers in a profit making economy are an exploitable commodity whose works are products to be marketed, and are so judged and handled.