“All I wanted was a little piece of life, to be married, to have children…. I was trying my damnedest to lead a conventional life, for that was how I was brought up, and it was what my husband wanted of me. But one can't build little white picket fences to keep the nightmares out.”

— Anne Sexton

Last update March 29, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "All I wanted was a little piece of life, to be married, to have children…. I was trying my damnedest to lead a conventi…" by Anne Sexton?

Anne Sexton photo

Anne Sexton 120

poet from the United States 1928–1974

Related quotes

“I can't give you the white picket fence, and if I did, you'd set it on fire.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bleeds

“Now, some of you might wonder how come I have ten children, right? One of the main reasons is because I want to have my own picket line.”

Dolores Huerta (1930) American labor leader

1974 speech, in Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans, 1790-1995 by Deborah Gillan Straub

“I wanted to be free. I wanted to express desires on my own, to shape my own little life.”

Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952) Soviet diplomat

The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman (1926)

“Why should I marry? One marries to have children, but I already have children! My nieces and nephews are my children. I wanted to marry to make babies, but now I have them, so marriage isn't that important, is it?”

Salman Khan (1965) Indian film actor

Quotes By Salman
Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006795/bio#quotes

“Not everyone wants this conventional little life you’re rowing your boat toward. I like my river of fire. And when it’s time for me to go I fully intend to roll off my one-person dinghy into the flames and be consumed. I'm not afraid.”

Zadie Smith book NW

Source: NW

“I wanted to believe, and I tried my damnedest to believe, in the rainbow I tried to get over, and I couldn't! … So what? Lots of people can't!”

Judy Garland (1922–1969) actress, singer and vaudevillian from the United States

As quoted in Judy (1974) by Gerold Frank, p. 566

“I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

“There's alot of things I want, a lot of things that I'd like to be.
But girl, I don't foresee a rags-to-riches story for me.
There's just one little dream I've got to come true;
There's just one round I've gotta win,
I can't be a loser with you.
Baby, baby, once in my life, let me get what I want,
Girl, don't let me down!
Just once in my life, let me hold on to one good thing I found!”

Carole King (1942) Nasa

Just Once in My Life (1965), co-written with Gerry Goffin and Phil Spector, first recorded by The Righteous Brothers
Song lyrics, Singles

“I am going to marry my novels and have little short stories for children.”

Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) American writer

Kerouac, as quoted by Allen Ginsberg in The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice (2006), page 250.

“I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in”

Cole Porter (1891–1964) American composer and songwriter

"Don't Fence Me In" (1934)

Related topics