Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.

— Erica Jong

Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.

— Erica Jong

Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. . . . It really is worth fighting for being brave for risking everything for. And the trouble is if you don't risk everything you risk even more.

— Erica Jong

Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the dark place where it leads.

— Erica Jong

Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.

— Erica Jong

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the dark place where it leads.

— Erica Jong

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

— Erica Jong

Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.

— Erica Jong

Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.

— Erica Jong

Fame turns out to be a powerful instrument of grace because it humbles its chosen victims in a hurry. You sail into it, your canvas swelled with grandiosity, and when your fifteen minutes are over, and you are becalmed, you realize that grandiosity cannot take you where you need to go. Only then do you learn to row like hell, asking God for the strength to stay afloat.

— Erica Jong