Roxane Gay Quotes

I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.

So many of us are reaching out, hoping someone out there will grab our hands and remind us we are not as alone as we fear.

Some women being empowered does not prove the patriarchy is dead. It proves that some of us are lucky.

Nemeses aren't born. They are made.

Just write and love what you're writing. And if you're not loving what you're writing, take a look at why and fix that.

People do terrible things all the time, but we don’t regularly disown our humanity. We disavow the terrible things.

You have to be consistent. You have to be yourself. You have to be committed to what you're doing. You have to not be afraid to be ambitious.

Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.

I am a bad feminist and a good woman. I am trying to become better in how I think and say and do - without abandoning what makes me human.

If people cannot be flawed in fiction there's no place left for us to be human.

So often feminism is built up as this thing where you have to be perfect. You have to be consistent and you can't ever deviate. That's just not realistic.

Violence is not the answer but neither is peace.

I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn’t make certain choices for ourselves.

With my writing, I generally just pretend that no one's reading it. I allow myself that delusion so that I can write the things that I write.

We have this cultural obsession with work and productivity as if we're better people if we don't stop and take some time for ourselves.

When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.

Truth can hurt so very much.

It's gut instinct that helps me determine how to write a story. I love the surreal because I am faced with the challenge of making the unbelievable believable. That challenge is thrilling.

I approach most things in life with a dangerous level of confidence to balance my generally low self-esteem.

I'll learn how to rest, though. I can still learn new tricks.

Books are often far more than just books.

Twitter is my happy place. I am not there to overthink 140 characters.

I don't read the comments anymore, unless they are moderated. Which is not to say censored, but I don't need to read someone saying, "You're ugly."

It is deeply unfair to task writers of color with unique responsibilities that we don't assign to all writers.

I am trying so very hard to stay in the moment despite the ferocity of my ambition.

The notion that I should be fine with the status quo even if I am not wholly affected by the status quo is repulsive.

I've always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing since I was probably four years old - it was nonsense, but it was still my little attempts at being a storyteller.

Fiction offers escape but it also interrogates the world we live in, whether the past, present or future.

The actual act of writing brings me such pleasure - to tell stories, to engage in cultural criticism, to reflect, to question, all of it is invigorating.

People of color are not under any kind of obligation beyond working hard, doing their best, and learning from their mistakes.

Whiteness is not the default in my fiction.

I don't ever rest. It's a problem and hopefully something I will get a better handle on in the coming years.

My dad is a workaholic so I take after him in this respect.

I don't know that anyone in the United States is taught to rest.

I am interested in intense, unbreakable emotional connections and oftentimes, such connections can be found between siblings.

What is it like to be connected to someone you can never get away from, for better or worse? I love trying to answer that question.

Good fiction challenges us as much as it entertains and these days, we could do with both of these things.

I don't want the success to go away. I don't want it to seem unearned.

I can't please everyone. I am trying not to let the pressure consume me.

Feminism is definitely a part of everything I do.

My tweeting is cool and calm unless I am riled up about something and then I just surrender to the fury of my fingers.

Feminism has neglected the needs of woman of color and people of color in general. But I don't think it means that we should overlook feminism as having nothing valuable to contribute.

I love romantic comedies. I know how terrible they are, but I love them! And I don't think that makes me less of a feminist.

When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement.

I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing.

Most of my favorite tweets go completely ignored but most of my favorite tweets are probably really lame or inside jokes between me and my [redacted]. See what I did there?

I see my tweets as a current joining a bunch of other currents in the world's craziest ocean.

In truth, feminism is flawed because it is a movement powered by people and people are inherently flawed.

I am mortified by my music choices.

When I write on Twitter, I do other things: I'm working, grading, or reading, and I'm procrastinating, and I'll pop on Twitter and be like, "Hey, what's up? Yogurt's delicious."