“In this pause, I suddenly saw something very clearly.

Whatever it was I wanted from my mother was simply not there to be had. It was not her fault.

And it was therefore not my fault that I was unable to elicit it.”

— Alison Bechdel , book Are You My Mother?

Source: Are You My Mother?

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Alison Bechdel 58

American cartoonist, author 1960

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Mis culpas no irán a otras manos por mi culpa. No quiero otra culpa en mis manos.
Voces (1943)

“Meg, I give you your faults."

"My faults!" Meg cried.

"Your faults."

"But I'm always trying to get rid of my faults!"

"Yes," Mrs. Whatsit said. "However, I think you'll find they'll come in very handy on Camazotz.”

Madeleine L'Engle book A Wrinkle in Time

Source: A Wrinkle in Time

“I had no expectations. I thought, “If I don’t make it, it’s my own fault.””

Anchee Min (1957) Chinese-American author

Source: On choosing to immigrate to the United States in “Anchee Min: 'If I had stayed in China, I would be dead'” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10116718/Anchee-Min-If-I-had-stayed-in-China-I-would-be-dead.html in The Telegraph (2013 Jul 4)
Context: In China I had to suffer and labour for the Communist Party – here I was given the opportunity to suffer and labour for myself and to build my own life. I chose to look at the glass half full – I think that’s a very immigrant attitude.

“My biggest fault is that the faults I was born with grow bigger each year.”

Haruki Murakami book A Wild Sheep Chase

Source: A Wild Sheep Chase

“I was very happy. I thought I would cut my way through life.... victory after victory, [laughing.. ] Well, I adjusted as soon as they carried me into my mother. Half of my victories fell to the ground.. [she pauses].. My mother had victories.”

Agnes Martin (1912–2004) American artist

her candid, weather-beaten face darkens abruptly
Mary Lance, in 'With My Back to the World' a documentary made in 2002; as quoted by Olivia Laing,
Martin claimed she could remember the exact moment of her birth. She had entered the world, she tells Lance, 'as a small figure with a little sword'
after 2000