The Wives Quotes

“But the truth is that the heart’s desire is a mere current against the tide of nurture and nature. You can spend your whole life swimming against it and eventually you’ll get tired and the current of genes and upbringing will pull you under.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Women are stuck in a cycle of insecurity perpetuated by the way men treat them, and we are constantly fighting to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are okay.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“We busy ourselves trying not to be lonely, trying to find purpose in careers, and lovers, and children, but at any moment, those things we work so hard to possess could be taken from us.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“I’m holding everyone accountable, because it takes a village to put someone in a mental institution.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“We’re all just waiting for someone to stand behind us, aren’t we? Even if it’s just one person, it gives you strength.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Amazing how once you open a door for something, there’s no going back. All you can do is brace yourself as you get sucked in, deeper and deeper.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“A woman’s greatest foe is sometimes her hope that she’s imagined it all. That she herself is crazy rather than the circumstances of her life. Funny the emotional responsibility a woman is willing to take on just to maintain an illusion.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“That is male folly; they expect you to always be the same, reliable cow, but women spend their lives changing. Our change can swing for you or against you depending on how fairly we’ve been treated.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“But I know that as humans we want to be heard, and so when someone does the hearing, we feel a connection to them.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Fighting was the sandpaper that smoothed out the first years of a relationship. Sure, there was still plenty of lifelong grit after that, but the fighting stripped everything down, let the other person know what was important to you.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“People treat being sick in the body as fine, normal, empathy-worthy; they’ll bring you soup and medicine, and press the back of their hand to your forehead. But if they think you’re sick in the mind, it’s different. It’s mostly your fault—I say “mostly” because people have been told again and again that mental illness isn’t a choice—it’s chemical.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Waiting...waiting...that’s what women do. We wait for him to get home, we wait for him to pay attention to us, wait to be treated fairly—for our worth to be seen and acknowledged. Life is just a waiting game for women.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“In its place is a framed print of a pressed poppy. It depresses me. Pressed flowers are an attempt to hold on to something that was once alive. They’re desperate and lonely.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“The doctor is teaching me to cope with my shame, to deal with it. "Make decisions you can live with..." he says to me.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“But now I see the truth: women are stuck in a cycle of insecurity perpetuated by the way men treat them, and we are constantly fighting to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are okay.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“I’ve become that woman—the one who is made happy by the happiness of others. It’s disappointing to me, that I’ve forgotten myself entirely.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“You don’t have to give up something you love just because other people disapprove”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Does a woman still have to explain herself when she doesn’t want children?”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“A woman in love loses her sight first and then her courage.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“It’s all too perfect, I think. When things are that perfect, something is wrong.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“feel better knowing I’m not alone, that the whole world is as fragile and lonely as I am.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“We busy ourselves trying not to be lonely, trying to find purpose in careers, and lovers, and children, but at any moment, those things we work so hard to possess could be taken from us. I feel better knowing I’m not alone, that the whole world is as fragile and lonely as I am.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Maybe all American families play the togetherness game—the one where you talk about sports and dine on casseroles (in the Pacific Northwest, it’s gluten-free and organic), fight about politics and act like you have meaningful relationships when you’re actually dying of loneliness.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“But the truth is that the heart’s desire is a mere current against the tide of nurture and nature. You can spend your whole life swimming against it and eventually you’ll get tired and the current of genes and upbringing will pull you under. I became a lot like her and a little bit like me.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“I remember thinking how fragile we were as humans, souls covered in tender flesh and brittle bone; one wrong step and we became someone else entirely.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“busy ourselves trying not to be lonely, trying to find purpose in careers, and lovers, and children, but at any moment, those things we work so hard to possess could be taken from us. I feel better knowing I’m not alone, that the whole world is as fragile and lonely as I am.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“We're all just waiting for someone to stand behind us, aren't we? Even if it's just one person, it gives us strength.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“Somehow, the messy lives of reality stars make me feel better about my own. There is something dull and vapid about the plastic-looking women on those shows, despite their Fame and Fortune - no matter if they deserve it or not. There is something hopeful about that for the rest of us. We're all fucked up, every single one of us, I think.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“truth: women are stuck in a cycle of insecurity perpetuated by the way men treat them, and we are constantly fighting to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are okay.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives

“I had big plans to be anything but my mother: to be loved, to be successful, to make beautiful children. But the truth is that the heart’s desire is a mere current against the tide of nurture and nature. You can spend your whole life swimming against it and eventually you’ll get tired and the current of genes and upbringing will pull you under. I became a lot like her and a little bit like me.”
― Tarryn Fisher, The Wives