Assumed Mothers Quotes & Sayings

Steamboats by this time were becoming a familiar presence on the rivers and coastal waters of America, but not until 1838 did steam-powered ships cross the Atlantic. — David McCullough

From an evolutionary perspective, nothing could be worse for a male than to eliminate his own progeny. It's assumed, therefore, that nature has provided males with a rule of thumb to attack only infants of mothers with whom they have had no recent sex. This may seem foolproof for the males, but it opens the door for a brilliant female counterstrategy. By accepting the advances of many males, a female can buffer herself against infanticide because none of her mates can discard the possibility that her infant is his. In other words, it pays to sleep around. — Frans De Waal

This is a story, told the way you say stories should be told: Somebody grew up, fell in love, and spent a winter with her lover in the country. This, of course, is the barest outline, and futile to discuss. It's as pointless as throwing birdseed on the ground while snow still falls fast. Who expects small things to survive when even the largest get lost? People forget years and remember moments. Seconds and symbols are left to sum things up: the black shroud over the pool. Love, in its shortest form becomes a word. — Ann Beattie

Katie had slept through morning mass but she could still go to confession and make an effort to banish her unholy and unhealthy thoughts. Mother never asked what she was thinking and feeling on these trips; she just assumed that anything Katie had on her mind was dirty and sinful. — Carol Storm

Throughout history, works of art have been stolen under mysterious circumstances ... Said by some to be the work of "Phantom" thieves ... Others dismiss it as mere myth. But in this country, the stories are all too true. The name of this mysterious thief? "Dark." And his true identity? No one knows ... — Yukiru Sugisaki

You mortgage yourself sometimes. You know what you want to do, then you balance it against paying the rent. — Aden Young

I put £150,000 into the stage production of Grease and have got back £1.5 million so far. It has been a fantastic success. — Jeffrey Archer

Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they will remember the name on the back — Tony Adams

...salads are just weight-loss fads. — J.A. Redmerski

Leisure with dignity. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

In 1975, another landmark paper showed that mothers presiding over an empty nest were not despairing, as conventional wisdom had always assumed, but happier than mothers who still had children at home; during the eighties, as women began their great rush into the workforce, sociologists generally concluded that while work was good for women's well-being, children tended to negate its positive effects. — Jennifer Senior

The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a
creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the
managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the
young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the
cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and
blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom;
that is to say, of a spectral shade. — Gaston Leroux

So far it has been assumed that the only pregnancies which are aborted are accidental ones and the only foetuses destroyed those whose mothers could not bear the thought of their becoming children. In a just world this would be the case, but the world is far from just. Too many women are forced to abort by poverty, by their menfolk, by their parents. Poverty has many faces; it may be the poverty of the young, the unmarried, the student, the unemployed, the female or a combination of these. — Germaine Greer

In my dating career, I had found that mothers seemed to like me; fathers did not. Period. So I tended to avoid contact with the dads. I assumed that this wasn't personal. Rather, it was simply the fact that I was a hormone-laden, male teenager with a fully functional penis, who happened to be in the presence of their daughters. — Robin Yocum

Science is dangerous. There is no question but that poison gas, genetic engineering, and nuclear weapons and power stations are terrifying. It may be that civilization is falling apart and the world we know is coming to an end. In that case, why no turn to religion and look forward to the Day of Judgment, ... [being] lifted into eternal bliss ... [and] watching the scoffers and disbelievers writhe forever in torment. — Isaac Asimov

Person 1: "Stay back ... I have a demon inside of me."
Person 2: "Let me get closer ... I have a hell inside me where your demons can live."
(from Dark Winter, #2 - out Halloween 2014) — John Hennessy

Adultery often happens, I am sure, because you are on a sinking ship, and you need to leap but can't leap. You are too spineless, maybe, to leap.The water is too dark and choppy and the sea is too large. Saving your own life, even, isn't enough reason to jump- no, you need the hands at your back, pushing, the hands of something as unavoidable and inevitable and imperative as love.It's got to be something that big, you know, to get you to jump. — Deb Caletti

I leave it to Pater Leoden to distribute the remainder of my worldly goods among the parish, as, being an immoral soul, I will have no further need of them."
"You mean, immortal, don't you?" Chronicler asked uncertainly. — Patrick Rothfuss

gluten has been implicated in mental illness since at least 1979, — Julia Ross

I always feel sad for the girl that I was, because it never occurred to me that my mother might comfort me. She has never told me she loved me, and I never assumed she did. She tended to me. She administrated me. — Gillian Flynn

I think most memoirs, though they purport to be about this particular time or this person you met, are really about the effect that person or time had on you. — Rosemary Mahoney

A man can be in two different places and he will be two different men. Maybe if you think of more places he will be more men, but two is enough for now. — Elmore Leonard