I absolutely don't dislike children - I would choose their company over adult company any time. Rachel Cusk absolutelyadultchild Change image and share on social
Hope is one of those no-win-no-fee things, and although it needs some encouragement to survive, its existence doesn't necessarily prove anything. Rachel Cusk encouragementexistencefee Change image and share on social
As it stands, motherhood is a sort of wilderness through which each woman hacks her way, part martyr, part pioneer; a turn of events from which some women derive feelings of heroism, while others experience a sense of exile from the world they knew. Rachel Cusk deriveeventexile 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
There are certain types of slightly hysterical human characters who, rather than creating, walk around with a sense of their own potential - it's as if they themselves were art objects. They feel as if their lives are written narratives, or pieces of music. Rachel Cusk artcharactercreate share on social
I have a romantic conception of the writer's life, and the sort of writer's life that I admire is probably a childless life, possibly a marriageless life, certainly a travelling life - I'm in awe of how much D.H. Lawrence managed to get around. But that's never been something I'm capable of doing. Rachel Cusk admireawecapable share on social
As writers go, I have a skin of average thickness. I am pleased by a good review, disappointed by a bad. None of it penetrates far enough to influence the thing I write next. Rachel Cusk averagebaddisappoint Change image and share on social
What compromises women - babies, domesticity, mediocrity - compromises writing even more. Rachel Cusk babycompromisedomesticity Change image and share on social
I sometimes feel that the world is a very uncivilised place where it is meant to be at its most civilised. Where it's meant to be intellectual or artistic or compassionate, it isn't, and that makes me very angry. Rachel Cusk angryartisticcivilise share on social