Quotes About Tradition

In America my mother has eyes as strong as boulders, never once skittering off a face, but she has not learned to place decorations and phonograph needles, nor has she stopped seeing land on the other side of the oceans. Now her eyes include the relatives in China, as they once included my father smiling and smiling in his many western outfits, a different one for each photograph that he sent from America. (1983: 59)

I refused to cook. When I had to wash dishes, I would crack one or two. "Bad girl," my mother yelled, and sometimes that made me gloat rather than cry. Isn't a bad girl almost a boy?

The Chinese did not admire a bent back; goddesses and warriors stood straight. Still there must have been a marvelous freeing of beauty when a worker laid down her burden and stretched and arched.

The Black woman in the South who raises sons, grandsons and nephews had her heartstrings tied to a hanging noose. Any break from routine may herald for them unbearable news.

If I survived at all, it would be a triumph. If I swam, it would be a miracle. As I unlocked my door, I thought of my mother putting her age back fifteen years and going into the merchant marines. I had to try. If I ended in defeat, at least I would be trying. Trying to overcome was black people's honorable tradition.

The laughter was sour and not really directed at white women. It was a traditional ruse that was used to shield the black vulnerability; we laughed to keep from crying.

We cackled like two old crones, remembering a secret past. The laughter was sour and not really directed at white women. It was a traditional ruse that was used to shield the Black vulnerability; we laughed to keep from crying.

Now they seemed not ready to give up the old school, the familiar paths and classrooms.

Momma, always self-conscious at public displays of emotions not traceable to a religious source, told me to come with her and we'd bring the bread and bowls.

When religious ritual is not perfumed By the incense of burning flesh

Chez Paolo," Grandmère said. Chez Paolo means "Paul's house.

Have a slice of orange—traditionally

My father thinks that we should forget the old gods. He says that a country with two sets of gods is like a country with two kings. No one knows which to be loyal to.

There are families whose greatness lies in their past, and in their legacies, Mrs. Schuyler answered. That is a quality much to be admired, for tradition is what binds us as a society. But there are some families, like some nations, whose greatness is a future development, and that quality, though harder to discern than the prestige of manor houses and coats of arms and titles of rank and office, is no less valuable, if, indeed, not more so.

A funeral was a thing they understood; dissent was something they did not.

reactionaries.

She wanted to remind them that Christmas was more than just glitter and garlands—but that color and sparkle were a wonderful way to celebrate the real Joy of Christmas. And before she walked away, she lifted the baby Jesus and gave it a little kiss—just like she'd always done—and laid it in the manger.

spent the evening letting Emily call the shots for what she called "a normal Christmas Eve" night—doing everything from drinking eggnog and eating snack food to watching, of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Finally they hung up Emily's Christmas stocking—a gift that Joy had tucked in one of her magical bins. Marcus hung it on the far edge of the fireplace to prevent the big crackling fire from scorching it.

One girl made flatbread, another cleaned and sliced greens, cucumbers and mushrooms, and a third made dressing of olive oil, vinegars and herbs. So while they waited they had greens and mushrooms tossed in the dressing with crumbled goat cheese on top to eat on the folded-up flatbread. There was more flatbread to sop up the juices of the stewed rabbit and vegetables, and the dragons appeared, as they were finishing the meal, with yet more flatbread and honey.

Tradition spoke of an elegant half-arch being only a fallen pile of stones without its counterpart to make it whole.

The old man was aware of only one virtue – Obedience to Tradition. The destiny of the Groans. The law of Gormenghast.

My Great-aunt Squintina (grand-mother of Cousin Tabitha Twitchit) -- died of a thimble in a Christmas plum pudding. I never put any article of metal in MY puddings or pies. (Explained by the very elegantly attired Duchess, at a luncheon party.)

How can you wish on a turkey wishbone with a man who is capable of correcting a love letter?

The structure of marriage in a patriarchal society is based on a system of exchange, one in which men are traditionally taught to provide economically for women and children in exchange for sexual, housekeeping, and nurturing services.