Anne Sexton Quotes

I never felt an obligation to say every single terrible thing that happened to me.

When I was younger, I was terrified to express anger because it would often kick-start a horrible reaction in the men in my life. So I bit my tongue. I was left to painstakingly deal with the aftermath of my avoidance later in life, in therapy or through the lyrics of my songs.

I'm not stupid. After you just punch me, I'm not gonna be like, 'Alright, let me do that again.'

I don't want to show my emotions in public.

I've learned to keep a lot of stuff to myself.

I would never pose topless.

I said I fell down. Ah. The ground bloodied your nose, split yer lip, and punched ye in th' eye, all at once. I said I don't want to talk about it.

My body may have been abused, but it certainly hasn't been neglected.

You spend your life getting walked on, you learn to recognize the tread.

My personal life is a source of incredible happiness for me, but it's personal and it's not for me to hock, or shop around to the highest bidder. Plus, it could never live up to the amazing mythology that everyone online has created for me, so I'll keep mum about it.

I cut myself because you wouldn't let me cry. I cried because you wouldn't let me speak. I spoke because you wouldn't let me shine. I shone because I thought you loved me.

If you want to dig, if you want to pry, do it on your time, but I'm going to be a woman of dignity.

The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.

I’d like to do a job where I don’t have to tie women to beds.

In war, one cannot say what one feels.

I don't feel I have to share everything.

Scheme not to make what's Another's your own; Be not a Dog for the sake of a Bone.

I'm actually not star-struck... I like to give people their own space and admire them from a distance.

Cautiously avoid speaking of the domestic affairs either of yourself, or of other people. Yours are nothing to them but tedious gossip; and theirs are nothing to you.

Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.

I was with a real jerk after the first heartbreak, and once I did the prerequisite eating an entire cake and singing "All By Myself" in the shower, I realized that people treat you badly when you let them, and that I had to respect myself and not let anyone else treat me that way again. If someone really loves you, they are your biggest champion, not your biggest detractor.

The worst is knowing I can't tell anybody what's happening -or what's happened- to me. Not even my mom.

It’s the age of celebrity. It’s the age of social media. But for we old school girls who don’t want to show up at every single event just ‘cause I don’t tweet–I have nothing to say. I’m not on Facebook. I mean it sounds like I have plenty to say, but that’s to people who I’m in a room with. I’m not that interesting, and the rest is none of your business.

I wanted to be kicked and hit and bruised up and beaten. It became something that was an absolutely necessary part of every day for me.

I have packed myself into silence so deeply and for so long that I can never unpack myself using words. When I speak, I only pack myself a little differently.