Molly Shannon Quotes

I'm not a good mother at all.

I expend far too much of my maternal energies on guilt and regret.

Our standards for motherhood are so high that many of us harbor intense, secret guilt for every harsh word we speak to our children, every negative thought that enters our minds.

You can forgive yourself a great deal.

I feel such a sense of empowerment being a mom. But I do wonder: How do they/we do it all?

It's hard to practice compassion when we're struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance.

'I am a bad mother.' Every Christmas, this is what I think because the holiday season fills me with such anxiety. I'm sure that other mothers are happily baking cookies, decorating trees, and finding perfect gifts for everyone.

As women, we are constantly criticising and judging ourselves in terms of our body, how we dress, what profession we take up, how we fare in that. Indian women are gifted with certain body types and features, which is healthy, and we should accept that.

The interesting thing for me is, if I met Michael Peterson in person, I'd want him to let himself off the hook just a little bit.

I've been the type of father who tries desperately to be perfect but doesn't succeed all the time.

After many years of self-flagellation, I've realised that beating myself up doesn't get me anywhere.

Aborting my baby is the most serious of the many maternal crimes I tally in my head when I am at my lowest, when the Bad Mother label seems to fit best. Rocketship was my baby. And I killed him.

The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism.

I still feel as if I weren't a good enough mother. I didn't break any rules.

When I feel like I'm not doing what I am supposed to as a mother, I will torture myself. I don't know how to deal with it. I find some consolation in the fact that all mommies feel it. If there was a way to cure mommy guilt, I would bottle it and be a bazillionaire.

What I have known with respect to myself, has tended much to lessen both my admiration, and my contempt, of others.

As a working mother, the last thing you need is to be hard on yourself. As a stay-at-home mother, the last thing you need is to be hard on yourself. As a twenty something with no job prospects or life partner in sight, the last thing you need is to be hard on yourself.

Let me think about the people who I care about the most, and how when they fail or disappoint me... I still love them, I still give them chances, and I still see the best in them. Let me extend that generosity to myself.

Perfectionism is really a challenge for me, and it causes me to be super-critical of myself in so many ways: about body image constantly; about parenting; about being a mother.

That heart alone is hard which does not shudder at itself for not feeling its hardness.

I don't think I can be too hard on myself.

I try not to judge my characters. If I'm looking at it from the outside, I'd say, 'No, she's not really a great mother.' But she wishes she were, and she wants to be, and she still has instincts toward protecting her son and wanting him to be a happy person.

My advice to moms that have to go to work is to just be easy on yourself and know that you're doing the best you can.

Every so often, I'll look at myself in the mirror and go, 'You're a bad mother,' you know? Like, 'You're a bad dude, man, and you're gonna show the world who you are when the time is right.'

Women are strong, and we're way too hard on ourselves.