Judy > Judy's Quotes

“You know you're a mom when you open the door to the dishwasher mid-cycle and think, 'This is the closest I'm going to get to a spa treatment till next Mother's Day.'"

"Joining the words 'Lose Weight, Effortlessly!' in the same sentence may be a form of hate speech."

"Try to make time for the things that are important, not just the things that are urgent."

"I want my work to matter, my words to count for the good, and to spread some good cheer along the way.”
― Judy Gruen

“Don't be so humble - you are not that great.”
― Golda Meir

“The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”
― Janet Fitch, White Oleander

“Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.

I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…

I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!’

‘Well,’ I said, slightly nonplussed, ‘the last time you saw me I’d just had a baby.’

What I felt like saying was, ‘I’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?’ But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.”
― J.K. Rowling

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“Jewish teachings have inspired my professional ambitions and personal values. They have helped me build an empowering spiritual life and taught me to make my words count for the good. I will always continue to stand up proudly as a Jew even during dark times. Because a brighter tomorrow is sure to come.”
― Judy Gruen, Bylines and Blessings: Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence, and Redefining Success

“That afternoon when I forgot about my kids, I was jolted into realizing how much of my sense of self and even my sense of worth was bonded to my writing. That’s why I could so easily become engrossed in my work, even forgetting I had children while I joyously ruminated over word choices: Should it be dismayed or distraught? How about perturbed? Would discomposed sound too Victorian? Time really flies when luxuriating over the 1,300-plus pages of a Roget’s Thesaurus.”
― Judy Gruen, Bylines and Blessings: Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence, and Redefining Success

“The moment was raw, and our nation was traumatized, but of course humor and comedy would return—and soon—because it had to. Humor isn’t a luxury; it’s a survival tool. It releases anxieties from shared fears and concerns. It lets us laugh at the absurd, and even at evil. We need this.”
― Judy Gruen, Bylines and Blessings: Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence, and Redefining Success