Candace Bushnell Quotes

Oh I don't plan on getting married. It's a legalized form of prostitution. ~ Candace Bushnell

At first, being with Sebastian was like being in the middle of the best dream I'd ever had - but now it mostly feels exhausting. I'm up one minute and down the next; questioning what I say and do. Even questioning my sanity. ~ Candace Bushnell

His mother had become impossible, as, he supposed, all elderly people were when they refused to accept that their lives had to change. ~ Candace Bushnell

A guy who is crazily, madly in love with you. A guy who sees how incredible and amazing you are, even though you're not the cheerleader or even close to the prettiest girl in the school. A guy who thinks you're beautiful, just the way you are. ~ Candace Bushnell

I make mistakes. That's what I do. I
speak without thinking, I act without
knowing. I drink so much that I can
barely walk ... I'm a fantastic lover
though, and an amazing friend. God
knows I mean well. ~ Candace Bushnell

My share. I hate owing anyone anything. Don't you? ~ Candace Bushnell

What?" She gasps. "Who did you do it with? You can't go out there and pick up some random stranger. Oh no, Carrie. You didn't. You didn't pick up some guy at a bar. ~ Candace Bushnell

The fact that a man is open to being with an older woman suggests that he doesn't give a hang what other people think of him. More likely, he's confident, open-minded and willing to make his own rules. ~ Candace Bushnell

After all, it's woman, who decide, if a man is desirable or undesirable. ~ Candace Bushnell

The only way to look at men is like they're electrons. They have all these charges sticking out, and they're always looking for a hole where they can put those charges. ~ Candace Bushnell

Better alone than badly accompanied. ~ Candace Bushnell

Maybe you can't have it both ways. His life and your life. How do you put two lives together, anyway? ~ Candace Bushnell

Love is dangerous, if you know it's dangerous, that makes you treasure it, and you'll work harder to keep it. ~ Candace Bushnell

I wish I was one of those persnickety types who buys guidebooks and studies them, but I don't have the inclination or time. I'm more of a 'get on the plane, arrive at the destination and see what happens' kind of traveler. ~ Candace Bushnell

I love Chicago. I lived there briefly for three months and kept a boat under one of those space-age buildings. It was very Jetsons. ~ Candace Bushnell

My decorating and renovation skills are nil - indeed, I once used a shower curtain from Pottery Barn as 'window dressing.' ~ Candace Bushnell

I love things that are old and glittery, that come with layers of glamour and past lives. ~ Candace Bushnell

It's tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent, or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not to quit, play the hand we've been dealt, and accessorize what we've got. ~ Candace Bushnell

When it comes to people
don't write about who you know; but what you know of human nature. ~ Candace Bushnell

She could tell by Philip's attitude that his writing wasn't going well again. He was joyous when it was and miserable when it wasn't. ~ Candace Bushnell

You have to let go of who you were to become who you will be. ~ Candace Bushnell

It was ironic, but when you scratched the surface, most successful men were working for one thing only
to retire
and the sooner the better. Whereas women were the complete opposite. She had never heard a woman say she was working so she could retire to a desert island or to live on a boat. It was probably, she thought, because most women didn't think they deserved to do nothing. ~ Candace Bushnell

There's so many things that mattered so much in my 20s and 30s that don't matter now. ~ Candace Bushnell

I can safely conclude that we are single because we want to be. ~ Candace Bushnell

The most important thing to strive for in life is some kind of personal and professional achievement. Not as a man or a woman, but as a person. ~ Candace Bushnell

And if you were always spending your time getting over your past, how were you supposed to get on with your future? ~ Candace Bushnell

I'm a realist. Just because you had sex once doesn't mean you have to fall in love. ~ Candace Bushnell

Remember the stories you used to write? About that billionaire. You made fun of his fingers! Woo-hooo. 'Short-fingered vulgarian,' you called him. ~ Candace Bushnell

She had very little money, but she wasn't afraid-there was only one place to go, and that was up. ~ Candace Bushnell

Beware what you consume, lest you appetite grow by what it feeds on. ~ Candace Bushnell

Why do magazines do this to women?" Miranda complains now, glaring at Vogue. "It's all about creating insecurity. Trying to make women feel like they're not good enough. And when women don't feel like they're good enough, guess what?"
"What?" I ask, picking up the grocery bag.
"Men win. That's how they keep us down," she concludes.
"Except the problem with women's magazines is that they're written by women," I point out.
"That only shows you how deep this thing goes. Men have made women coconspirators in their own oppression. I mean, if you spend all your time worrying about leg hair, how can you possibly have time to take over the world? ~ Candace Bushnell

I can't wait to get out of the house. I can't wait to get out of here. I've been telling myself this all week. The 'getting out of here' part is unspecified, though. Maybe I simply want to get away from life ~ Candace Bushnell

And then he was there, staring at me from behind the screen door. I'd like to say he no longer affected me, that seeing him was a disappointment. But it wasn't true. I felt as strongly about him as I had on that first day I'd seen him in calculus class. ~ Candace Bushnell

Guys are like dogs: they never notice if you've changed your hair, but they can sense when there's another guy sniffing around their territory ~ Candace Bushnell

Being a writer
is all about having something to say. And it'd better be interesting. If you don't have anything
interesting to say, don't become a writer. Become something useful. Like a doctor. ~ Candace Bushnell

It's telling yourself that you want the things that society tells you you should want. women thikn that survival depends on conformity. but for some women, conformity is death. it's a death to the soul. the soul, "she said, "is a precious thing. when you live a lie, you damage the soul. ~ Candace Bushnell

What I have yet to see is a real woman choose a younger man because he spent six hours a day at the gym trying to sculpt his abs. ~ Candace Bushnell

As long as one refuses to know one's place, there's no telling what one can do in the world. ~ Candace Bushnell

I'm looking forward to writing more novels for young adults. ~ Candace Bushnell

Yow. Guys can be so insecure. ~ Candace Bushnell

I started writing about New York as soon as I arrived. I was 19. I used to write short stories and send them out. ~ Candace Bushnell

It's a job. When I'm writing I'm going to do it five to six days a week and I'm going to work for four to six hours a day. There's no magic writing fairy. It's just hard work. ~ Candace Bushnell

But that was the problem with New York: No matter how succesful you thought you were, there was always someone who was richer, more successful, more famous.. The idea of it was sometimes enough to make you want to give up. ~ Candace Bushnell

New York is a city where people are ambitious. They want things. ~ Candace Bushnell

I've never understood sexy lingerie. I mean, what's the point? The guy's only going to take it off. ~ Candace Bushnell

Retribution is tricky ... The insult isn't usually worth the risk of punishment. And eventually one learns that karma has a surprising way of taking care of these situations. All you have to do is sit back and watch. ~ Candace Bushnell

I don't go to parties to meet men. I go to parties to stand in a corner and watch people. ~ Candace Bushnell

There are a lot of women writers who never get married and don't have kids. I am married, but I didn't marry until I was 43. I knew when I was young that if I had to make a choice between being married and being a writer, I would have chosen to be a writer. I think it's a career where you have to put the career first. I don't have kids but - and luckily everyone isn't like this - I think if you have that passion, in a way, your career is your child. ~ Candace Bushnell

Man might have identified fire, but women identified the way to enjoy with it. ~ Candace Bushnell

I was incredibly determined - I wrote short stories, I wrote the beginnings of novels. I wrote a little children's book and sent it to the editor-in-chief of the children's division of Simon and Schuster and she asked me to write a little children's book for a series she was doing. ~ Candace Bushnell

Zizi was young and often confused about how to live his life, and when he made a choice he clung to it with fierce resolve, as if to beat his uncertainty into submission. ~ Candace Bushnell

The most important thing in business is a persona, Nico,' he was fond of saying. 'People want to know immediately what they're dealing with. And when they think about you, you've got to stand out in their minds
like one of those characters in a novel. ~ Candace Bushnell

For me, having it all is being paid to write novels. ~ Candace Bushnell

Men, Babies, it doesn't matter...we're soulmates ~ Candace Bushnell

What if I'm a princess on another planet? And no one on this planet knows it? ~ Candace Bushnell

The car was on the FDR drive now and, turning her head, she glanced out at the bleak brown buildings of the projects that stretched for blocks along the drive. Something inside her sank at the sight of all that sameness, and she suddenly felt defeated.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. In the past year, she'd started experiencing these moments of desperate emptiness, as if nothing really mattered, nothing was ever going to change, there was nothing new; and she could see her life stretching before her--one endless long day after the next, in which every day was essentially the same. Meanwhile, time was marching on, and all that was happening to her was that she was getting older and smaller, and one day she would be no bigger than a dot, and then she would simply disappear. Poof! Like a small leaf burned up under a magnifying glass in the sun. These feelings were shocking to her, because she'd never experienced world-weariness before. She'd never had time. All her life, she'd been striving and striving to become this thing that was herself--the entity that was Nico O'Neilly. And then, one morning, time had caught up with her and she had woken up and realized that she was there. She had arrived at her destination, and she had everything she'd worked so hard for: a stunning career, a loving (well, sort of) husband, whom she respected, and a beautiful eleven-year-old daughter whom she adored.
She should have been thrilled. But instead, she felt tired. Like all tho ~ Candace Bushnell

Should, is the worst word
in the English language. People always think things "should" be a certain way, and when they're
not, they're disappointed. ~ Candace Bushnell

Handbags are not important anymore," Connie admonished her. "It said so in Vogue. Right now it's all about having something no one else possesses. It's about the one of a kind. The unique. ~ Candace Bushnell

Maybe he's falling in love with the idea of falling in love with me. Maybe he wants to be in love with someone and I've ended up in the right place at the right time. ~ Candace Bushnell

If you smile, even if you're feeling bad, the action of the muscles will trick your brain into thinking you're happy ~ Candace Bushnell

I could live here forever. Maybe even become real New Yorker someday. ~ Candace Bushnell

I feel sick.
It's one thing to write for the school newspaper. But New York is on a whole different level. It's a mountain, with a few successful people like Bernard at the top, and a mad of dreamers and strivers like me at the bottom.
And then there are people like Viktor, who aren't afraid to tell you that you've never going to reach that peak. ~ Candace Bushnell

Just because someone is a girl doesn't mean she can't be tough and practical and have adventures. That's the way most girls are-until they get around guys. Then guys make them act all stupid. ~ Candace Bushnell

Why do magazine do this to women?" Miranda complains now, glaring at Vogue. "It's all about creating insecurity. Trying to make women feel like they're not good enough. And when women don't feel like they're good enough guess what?" "What?" I (Carrie) ask, picking up the grocery bad, "Men win. That's how they keen us down" she concludes ~ Candace Bushnell

Love is spiritual. It's about self-sacrifice and commitment. And discipline. You cannot have true love without discipline and respect. When you lose the respect of your spouse, you've lost everything. ~ Candace Bushnell

I have this theory: If you forgive someone, they can't hurt you anymore. ~ Candace Bushnell

I didn't want it to be this way."
"Yes, you did," she said, "because it is."
"I just want to be with someone normal," he said. "I just want to have a normal life."
"Excuse me," she said.
"You're a little crazy," he said. "You're too old to act the way you do. You've got to grow up. You've got to take care of yourdelf. I'm afraid for you. You can't think that people are going to take care of you all the time. ~ Candace Bushnell

Don't you think it's weird when someone has photographs of themselves all over the place? It's like they're trying to prove they exist. ~ Candace Bushnell

You don't want to peak in high school. If you do, the rest of your life is a disaster. ~ Candace Bushnell

There's no such thing as writer's block," she proclaimed. "If you can't write it's because you don't have anything to say. Or you're avoiding something. ~ Candace Bushnell

It was important to remember who you were and where you came from, no matter how successful you became. ~ Candace Bushnell

Why shouldn't I? I demand silently. Why shouldn't I become a famous writer? Like Norman Mailer. Or Philip Roth. And F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemmingway and all those other men. Why can't I be like them? I mean, what is the point of becoming a writer if no one reads what you've written?
Damn Viktor Greene and The New School. Why do I have to keep proving myself all of the time? Why can't I be like L'il, with everyone praising and encouraging me? Or Rainbow, with her sense of entitlement. I bet Viktor Greene never asked Rainbow why she wanted to be a writer.
Or what if-I wince-Viktor Greene is right? I'm not a writer after all. ~ Candace Bushnell

I wouldn't be in shallow relationships, so I do nothing. I have no sex and no romance. Who needs it.? Who needs all these potential problems like disease and pregnancy.? I have no problems. No fear of disease, psychopaths, or stalkers. Why not just be with your friends and have real conversations and a good time.? ~ Candace Bushnell

Babies! That's all it's about. Who ever knew the world would be all about babies?" Samantha shouts.
"Every time I see a baby, I swear, I want to throw up," Miranda says.
"I did throw up once." I nod eagerly. "I saw a filthy bib, and that was it."
"Why don't these people just get cats and a litter box?" Samantha asks. ~ Candace Bushnell

He's such an asshole you'd never believe he could be religious, but he is. ~ Candace Bushnell

Why do I keep evading my work? Is it because I'm afraid of being confronted by my lack of abilities? ~ Candace Bushnell

There are so many beautiful girls around that after a while you start looking for someone who can make you laugh ~ Candace Bushnell

If I'm with a man, is that going to prevent me from achieving my goal? What sacrifices will I have to make in terms of being myself, if I'm with a man? Something that young women find out really quickly is that when you start dating, all of a sudden you're supposed to have a role. You're not allowed to just be yourself. ~ Candace Bushnell

Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder
no matter how old you became and how much you'd seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered. ~ Candace Bushnell

I stare up the stars, intensely aware of his body a few inches from mine. If this isn't romance, I don't know what is. ~ Candace Bushnell

I really liked it." She covers her mouth in horror.
"If I like sex, do you think it means I can't be a feminist?"
"No." I shake my head. "Because being a feminist
I think it means being in charge of your sexuality. You decide who you want to have sex with. It means not trading your sexuality for ... other things."
"Like marrying some gross guy who you're not in love with just so you can have a nice house with a picket fence."
"Or marrying a rich old geezer. Or a guy who expects you to cook him dinner every night and take care of the children," I say, thinking of Samantha.
"Or a guy who makes you have sex with him whenever he wants, even if you don't," Miranda concludes.
We look at each other in triumph, as if we've finally solved one of the world's great problems. ~ Candace Bushnell

If everyone in New York took sides over these petty, insignificant arguments, no one would have any friends at all. ~ Candace Bushnell

I think, when men tell women to lose weight, it's a diversion from their own lack of size in certain areas. ~ Candace Bushnell

It was scary how a girl couldn't live without friends. ~ Candace Bushnell

We'll then," Enjd said. "What's the problem?"
"This," Mindy said. She opened her hand and held up a tiny green plastic toy solider thrusting a bayonet.
"I don't understand," Enid said.
"This morning, when I opened my door to get the newspaper, I found a whole troop of them arranged on the mat."
"And you think Paul Rice did it," Enid said skeptically.
"I don't think he did it. I know he did it," Mindy said. "He told me if I didn't approve his air conditioners, it was war ... ~ Candace Bushnell

Thinking you don't have unhealthy patterns is an unhealthy pattern in itself. And everyone has something unhealthy from their childhood. If you don't deal with it, it can ruin your life. ~ Candace Bushnell

Rehv cleared his throat. "What book is that?"
The Moor looked up, his almond-shaped eyes focusing with a sharpness Rehv could have done without. "You're awake."
"What book?"
"It's The Shadow Death Lexicon."
"Light reading. And here I thought you were a Candace Bushnell fan. ~ J.R. Ward

The '80s was all about this idea that women could have it all. You could have a career, and you could have a husband, and you could have children. ~ Candace Bushnell

The reality about being economically dependent on someone else usually doesn't work out for women in the end. It's about being an adult and being responsible for your life. Most women have to work, so let's just get on with it. ~ Candace Bushnell

That was the wonderful thing about New York: Years of bad blood could be wiped out with a single gesture of friendliness. ~ Candace Bushnell

Sometimes the best thing to do is to
pretend it didn't happen ~ Candace Bushnell

A glittering disco ball spins from the ceiling, but the music is something I've never heard, discordant and haunting and insistent, the kind of music that demands you dance. ~ Candace Bushnell

My parents had a great marriage. Interestingly, it made it harder for me in relationships because I knew what a good relationship looked like. ~ Candace Bushnell

I started working for the 'NY Observer' when I was 33. After I had been writing for them for about a year and a half the editor said, 'Your stories are the most talked about stories in the 'Observer'; you should have your own column.' ~ Candace Bushnell

Have I become the girl who waits by the phone, hoping it will ring, who asks a friend to dial her number to make sure the phone is working? ~ Candace Bushnell

Always look like you know where you're going, even when you don't ~ Candace Bushnell

Lots of famous people are late bloomers. My father says it's an advantage to be a late bloomer. Because when good things start happening, you're ready for it. ~ Candace Bushnell

Parker was also proving my theory. For instance, when Parker and Roger first started seeing each other, Parker got sick. Roger went to his house to cook him dinner and take care of him. That would never happen with a straight guy. If a straight guy got sick and he'd just started dating a woman and she wanted to take care of him, ~ Candace Bushnell

The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor. ~ Candace Bushnell

I know I have to do the right thing. And the sooner you do the right thing, the better. You get it over with, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. But who does that in real life? Instead, you procrastinate and think about it and put it off and think about it some more until that one little pebble grows into a giant block inside your head. ~ Candace Bushnell