I knew I was waiting for someone I didn't understand.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman

I want to mother the world, I thought. I have so much love. Then—I have no business being a mother. I am a selfish woman. Then—I can do this. Millions of women have been mothers. Then—I feel very alone. I do not know what I'm capable of.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman

Mothers, I believe, intoxicate us. We idolize them and take them for granted. We hate them and blame them and exalt them more thoroughly than anyone else in our lives. Furthermore, we sift through the evidence of their love, reassure ourselves of their affection and its biological genesis. Furthermore, we can steal and lie and leave, and they will love us.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman

Nothing has topped the way men shake her hand and look her in the eye, what it’s like to call a man chickenshit to his face and get away with it, to mean it, to feel free and dominant and in control of your life.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman

Power is a funny thing. Sometimes you can just take it.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman

Worrying about parents is a waste of time. It’s your life. Let’s have a martini.

— Megan Mayhew Bergman