For every five well-adjusted and smoothly functioning Americans, there are two who never had the chance to discover themselves. It may well be because they have never been alone with themselves. – Marya Mannes
The curse of the romantic is a greed for dreams, an intensity of expectation that, in the end, diminishes the reality. – Marya Mannes
It is not enough to show people how to live better: there is a mandate for any group with enormous powers of communication to show people how to be better. – Marya Mannes
Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed, well-groomed, and unaggressive. – Marya Mannes