Quotes About Expectations

What Martha Stewart-like demon of a Stepford wife is possessing me?

God forbid the wife should have prior knowledge of sex, let alone enjoy it.

I resent it being a truth universally acknowledged, no matter what era I find myself in, that a single woman of thirty must be in want of a husband.

It's bad enough to be a baby-making machine with no epidural in sight in exchange for the state-sanctioned title of 'Mrs' before one's name. But to be a 'Miss' with an ever-increasing brood of children, just waiting for the man to grow weary of stretch marks and spit-ups? No thank you?

I was thrilled by discovery, crushed by disappointment, and mortified by any misplaced enthusiasm. I declared allegiance, took a position, and always had a view, not noticing that girls were bemused and boys found me boring. Was a girl not supposed to feel so strongly, let alone want so much to possess and know something for her own sake?

Being a woman seemed to mean listening to the music boys liked and neither dancing nor singing along.

Youth isn't always all it's touted to be.

Valuation premiums of quality companies often reflect some degree of expected operational outperformance, but actual performance tends to exceed expectations over time. Stock prices thus tend to undervalue quality companies.

Live up to your potential, not down to others expectations.

That's just what a woman is. She thinks she knows what's good for a man, and she's going to see he gets it; and no matter if he's starving, he may sit and whistle for what he needs, while she's got him, and is giving him what's good for him.

A man was like a child with his appetites. A woman had to yield him what he wanted, or like a child he would probably turn nasty and flounce away and spoil what was a very pleasant connection.

The problem with success, even a little success, is that it changes you. You are no longer walking along the same precipice that drove you to do great work in the first place. Now you have something to defend: a reputation, money in the bank, a brand, real customer expectations. Success can take the edge away.

Radicalism usually prospers in the gap between rising expectations and declining opportunities. This is especially true where the population is young, idle, and bored; where the art is impoverished; where entertainment—movies, theater, music—is policed or absent altogether; and where young men are set apart from the consoling and socializing presence of women.

Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.

Success is somebody else's failure.

How strange it is, our little procession of life! The child says, "When I am a big boy." But what is that? The big boy says, "When I grow up." And then, grown up, he says, "When I get married." But to be married, what is that after all? The thought changes to "When I'm able to retire." And then, when retirement comes, he looks back over the landscape traversed; a cold wind seems to sweep over it; somehow he has missed it all, and it is gone.

Men are able to trust one another, knowing the exact degree of dishonesty they are entitled to expect.

To feel forever inadequate: Is this simply the universal condition of being a father?

If he'd lived I might have married him and had a passel of brats and a dog. Who wants that happy ending?" "A lot of people." "It's bullshit." "Yes," she said. "I know.

Any child who cannot do long division by himself does not deserve to smoke.

Ever since I was a little child, I refused to see movies of books that I loved. Because you already know what Heidi looks like and she doesn't look like Shirley Temple.

I never met anyone who didn't have a very smart child. What happens to these children, you wonder, when they reach adulthood?

some leaders don't want to celebrate with their team because they are afraid—yes, afraid that if they celebrate, people will quit working hard and lower the standards. I say don't let your fear take you out.

He brought over a gold box and opened it. Inside were chocolates wrapped in foil. Billy sat down close to me. "Life," he said, "is like a box of bonbons. Some dark with chocolate filling; some with cherries. But you never know till you open the silver wrapper what life holds for you." He held my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed back.