“Will you be wanting to contest the divorce?”
I asked Mrs. Davis.
"I should think not," she said calmly, "although I suppose on of us should, for the fun of the thing. An uncontested divorce always seems to me contrary to the spirit of divorce."
"At The End Of The Mechanical Age".
Sixty Stories (1981)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Donald Barthelme67
American writer, editor, and professor 1931–1989Related quotes
“Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from.”
Nora Ephron book I Feel Bad About My Neck
Source: I Feel Bad About My Neck
“This is what divorce is: Taking things you no longer want from people you no longer love.”
Zadie Smith book White Teeth
Source: White Teeth (2000)
“A divorce is like an amputation; you survive, but there’s less of you.”
Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer
Time magazine (19 March 1973)
“If you write another book, I’ll divorce you.”
Elaine Dundy (1921–2008) American journalist, actress
Afterword to The Dud Avocado (2006)
Context: My success took another road. I complained to Rod Steiger, "The book’s hardly been out and everyone wants to know what I’m going to write next. I mean, don’t I get to rest on my laurels?" In fact I had no idea of writing a second novel. "No," said Rod, answering my question. "Succeeding only means you get another chance to try to do it again."
I thought about it, and then Ken said to me, "If you write another book, I’ll divorce you." I sat down and started my second novel and wondered that I knew its beginning and its end. I put it aside to write a play which went on in London.… I went back to my novel and finished it. It was published to good reviews but now there were a couple of stinkers. I tore them up and flushed them down the toilet. I’d become a writer.
In 1964 Ken and I got divorced. Well, we did bad things to each other. Now, some three decades later, I look back in gratitude at him: I look back in wonder.
Georges Bataille (1897–1962) French intellectual and literary figure
Source: L’Expérience Intérieure (1943), p. 12
Gwyneth Paltrow (1972) American actress, singer, and food writer
Quoted in the Evening Standard, p. 16 (2 May 2013)
“I'm certain about my decision [to divorce you]. Stop hoping.”
F. W. de Klerk (1936) South African politician
As quoted in "How South Africa's former first lady met a violent, lonely and bitter end" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/06/chrismcgreal (5 December 2001), by Chris McGreal, The Guardian <br class="br">1990s