Quotes from Gina Barreca

I'm pretty much done with mindfulness. I'm just going to start paying attention.

Envy is what makes you, when an acquaintance is lustily telling you that she's dating a Greek god of a guy, ask, 'Which one, Hades?'

I see taking care of my emotional and mental health in the same way that I see taking care of a garment: After it's been through wear and tear, it needs attention.

It's only when you're at the bottom of the ladder that you ascend.

Recognizing your talents doesn't mean believing they're limitless. Accepting your strengths doesn't lead to pride, but instead to humility; you're less likely to resent what others have if you understand your own bounty.

Two things I do for maintenance: I get a manicure once a month, and I see my therapist about every six weeks. I am happy to report that, at this point, my nails crack more often than I do.

My cat is older than many fashion models. I won't even discuss the fact that she also weighs more.

We should learn to take genuine pride in a job well done and not expect praise for one simply carried out.

Birthdays are a reward for having shown up 365 days in a row. It's like getting a badge for attendance.

For many of us, our proms were less Walt Disney's 'Cinderella' and more Stephen King's 'Carrie.' The less we spent on them, the better.

From age 16 to age 20, a woman's body is a temple. From 21 to 45, it's an amusement park. From 45 on, it's a terrarium.

Women feel like we're fat if we can't wear the clothes we wore in high school. Men, in contrast, only start to feel fat only when they can no longer fit into a foreign car.

Think of the funniest story from your life. Chances are, it was something awful at the time.

Every patient tends to bury the most important story inside some other story, just the way new writers often 'bury the lede.' 'Burying the lede' is an old journalism term for when you only find out the real point about halfway into the article, but it also applies to therapy.

I passed my classes because I displayed effort, not because I learned math. But how can we help young people understand life rarely gives partial credit for effort, especially if that effort doesn't lead to understanding or success?

Here's something women need to stop doing to other women: We need to stop asking each other to lower our fees, cut our rates or work for free because we're members of the same sex.

I regard other women as my community, not my competition.

If anger were mileage, I'd be a very frequent flyer, right up there in First Class.

How about diamonds are a girl's best friends? Nope. It should be switched around and pointed out, instead, that your best friends are diamonds.

I see birthdays as a reward for having shown up 365 in a row. It's like getting a badge for attendance.

Rambling speeches and bad writing litter our lives. If talk is cheap, it's because the supply usually exceeds the demand.

Men fake sleep the way women fake orgasms: to be left alone already.

As a writer, I roll around in words the way cats roll around in catnip.

Some argue the days of furthering or bettering oneself through a liberl arts education are gone, but that's true only if furthering and bettering means making more money...For many life reveals itself more intimately in literature than in ledgers.