Writing is a discipline: it's almost all about holding back. Rachel Cusk backdisciplinehold Change image and share on social
Human beings have a need, generally, to destroy things. The Freudian principle of civilisation is correct. There's always, always a difference between the family image and the reality. Rachel Cusk beingcivilisationcorrect Change image and share on social
It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought to express a distinction, not deny it. Rachel Cusk denydistinctionequivalence Change image and share on social
I don't think I knew that you could be a novelist. I think a lot of my students are in the same condition. I thought it was unreachable, that it was sort of dead people. It took me a long time - I think I was well into novel writing before I really thought, 'Actually, this is a valid pastime.' Rachel Cusk conditiondeadknow share on social
Modern morality is all about perception. Rachel Cusk modernmoralityperception Change image and share on social
I have no sense of a model or predecessor when I write a memoir: For me, the form exists as a method of processing material that retains too many connections to life to be approached strictly and aesthetically. A memoir is a risk, a one-off, a bastard child. Rachel Cusk aestheticallyapproachbastard share on social
I think men and women are the same. Even as parents, I think we're the same. We're just conditioned to think that we're different. Having said that, it's true that motherhood is a particularly vulnerable area. It's an open wound, really. A woman is exposed to being turned into a different kind of person by the experience of motherhood. Rachel Cusk areaconditionexperience share on social
Society in the English countryside is still strangely, quaintly divided. If black comedy and a certain type of social commentary are what you want, I think English rural communities offer quite a lot of material. Rachel Cusk blackcomedycommentary share on social
My children are living, thinking human beings. It isn't in my power to regret them, for they belong to themselves. Rachel Cusk beingbelongchild Change image and share on social
Leaving things behind and starting again is a way of coping with difficulties. I learnt very early in my life that I was able to leave a place and still remain myself. Rachel Cusk copedifficultyearly Change image and share on social