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545 Powerful Margaret Atwood Quotes to Inspire You

Awareness | Beauty | Creativity | Desire | Emotions | Freedom | Gender | Human Experience | Identity | Journey | More

About Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood, born on November 18, 1939, in Ottawa, Canada, is an acclaimed author, poet, and environmental activist. Known for her thought-provoking and genre-defying works, Atwood has made a significant mark in literature with her exploration of themes such as gender, power, and societal control. She is best known for her dystopian masterpiece "The Handmaid’s Tale", which has become a global cultural phenomenon, inspiring adaptations and sparking vital discussions on women's rights and freedom.

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Here are 545 Powerful quotes by Margaret Atwood on various topics to inspire you.

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When we’re young we like happy endings When we’re a

1. “When we’re young, we like happy endings. When we’re a little older, we think happy endings are unrealistic and so we prefer bad but credible endings. When we’re older still, we realize happy endings aren’t so bad after all.”

Margaret Atwood

Age, Perspectives, Storytelling, Happy Endings, Personal Growth

If I love you is that a fact or a

2. “If I love you, is that a fact or a weapon?”

Margaret Atwood

Love, Emotions, Complexity, Relationships, Philosophical Inquiry

I am certain that a Sewing Machine would relieve as

3. “I am certain that a Sewing Machine would relieve as much human suffering as a hundred Lunatic Asylums, and possibly a good deal more.”

Margaret Atwood

Sewing, Creativity, Mental Health, Societal Commentary, Solutions

The answers you get from literature depend on the questions

4. “The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.”

Margaret Atwood

Literature, Inquiry, Interpretation, Understanding, Personal Reflection

If you happen to be a man sometime in the

5. “If you happen to be a man, sometime in the future, and you’ve made it this far, please remember: you will never be subject to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman. It’s difficult to resist, believe me. But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.”

Margaret Atwood

Gender, Forgiveness, Power, Relationship Dynamics, Societal Critiques

An eye for an eye only leads to more blindness

6. “An eye for an eye only leads to more blindness.”

Margaret Atwood

Revenge, Morality, Consequences, Human Nature, Philosophical Reflections

I'm bad at picking heroes

7. “I'm bad at picking heroes.”

Margaret Atwood

Heroes, Expectations, Personal Reflection, Choices, Identity

I used to think of my body as an instrument

8. “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will.”

Margaret Atwood

Body, Identity, Pleasure, Agency, Self-perception

The problem with meditating is I generally go to sleep

9. “The problem with meditating is I generally go to sleep, and that's because I'm doing it wrong.”

Margaret Atwood

Meditation, Mindfulness, Self-awareness, Humor, Personal Experience

Toast is me I am toast

10. “Toast is me. I am toast.”

Margaret Atwood

Identity, Metaphor, Self-image, Simplicity, Humor

Maybe I don’t really want to know what’s going on

11. “Maybe I don’t really want to know what’s going on. Maybe I’d rather not know. Maybe I couldn’t bear to know. The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge.”

Margaret Atwood

Ignorance, Knowledge, Innocence, Emotional Complexity, Personal Reflections

I’m not sure which is worse: intense feeling or the

12. “I’m not sure which is worse: intense feeling, or the absence of it.”

Margaret Atwood

Emotion, Intensity, Absence, Personal Struggle, Reflections

I’m ravenous for news any kind of news; even if

13. “I’m ravenous for news, any kind of news; even if it’s false news, it must mean something.”

Margaret Atwood

Curiosity, Information, Media, Emotional Hunger, Societal Reflections

You don’t believe the sky is falling until a chunk

14. “You don’t believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you.”

Margaret Atwood

Awareness, Reality, Consequences, Perceptions, Human Experience

I’ve learned to do without a lot of things If

15. “I’ve learned to do without a lot of things. If you have a lot of things, said Aunt Lydia, you get too attached to this material world and you forget about spiritual values. You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek.”

Margaret Atwood

Minimalism, Spirituality, Values, Reflections, Personal Growth

I don’t want a man around what use are they

16. “I don’t want a man around, what use are they except for ten seconds’ worth of half babies. A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women.”

Margaret Atwood

Gender, Relationships, Critique, Empowerment, Societal Roles

Our big mistake was teaching them to read We won’t

17. “Our big mistake was teaching them to read. We won’t make that mistake again.”

Margaret Atwood

Literacy, Irony, Societal Change, Reflections, Education

Where do you draw the line between love and greed?

18. “Where do you draw the line, between love and greed? We never did know, we always wanted more. We want to take it all in, for one last time, we want to eat the world with our eyes.”

Margaret Atwood

Love, Greed, Desires, Emotional Complexity, Human Nature

I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air Squeeze me

19. “I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air. Squeeze me and I’d turn into a small sickly damp wad of weeping pinky-red.”

Margaret Atwood

Identity, Emotions, Imagery, Vulnerability, Self-perception

Once you publish a book it is out of your

20. “Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.”

Margaret Atwood

Publishing, Control, Reader Interpretation, Literature, Creative Process

You think I’m not a goddess? Try me This is

21. “You think I’m not a goddess? Try me. This is a torch song. Touch me and you’ll burn.”

Margaret Atwood

Identity, Empowerment, Femininity, Strength, Self-expression

Thinking can hurt your chances and I intend to last

22. “Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last.”

Margaret Atwood

Thought, Survival, Self-awareness, Determination, Motivation

Our generation in the west was lucky: we had readymade

23. “Our generation in the west was lucky: we had readymade gateways. We had books, paper, teachers, schools, and libraries. But many in the world lack these luxuries. How do you practice without such tryout venues?”

Margaret Atwood

Education, Privilege, Resources, Literacy, Societal Reflections

At the very least we want a witness We can’t

24. “At the very least we want a witness. We can’t stand the idea of our own voices falling silent finally, like a radio running down.”

Margaret Atwood

Witness, Communication, Existence, Voice, Human Connection

Perhaps I write for no one Perhaps for the same

25. “Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scrawl their names in the snow.”

Margaret Atwood

Writing, Audience, Childhood, Identity, Self-expression

Kill what you can’t save what you can’t eat throw

26. “Kill what you can’t save what you can’t eat throw out what you can’t throw out bury What you can’t bury give away what you can’t give away you must carry with you, it is always heavier than you thought.”

Margaret Atwood

Burden, Choices, Survival, Emotional Weight, Metaphorical Reflections

The liver is evil and must be punished

27. “The liver is evil and must be punished.”

Margaret Atwood

Liver, Evil, Metaphor, Body, Humor

All stories are about wolves All worth repeating that is

28. “All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.”

Margaret Atwood

Stories, Wolves, Themes, Literary Critique, Human Experience

As human beings we are always torn between individual freedom

29. “As human beings, we are always torn between individual freedom and the ability to choose our actions, and the need for at least enough social structure so that anarchy, chaos, and warlordery – or the war of all against all – can be avoided.”

Margaret Atwood

Freedom, Choice, Society, Structure, Human Nature

Eating is our earliest metaphor preceding our consciousness of gender

30. “Eating is our earliest metaphor, preceding our consciousness of gender difference, race, nationality, and language. We eat before we talk.”

Margaret Atwood

Eating, Metaphor, Identity, Language, Human Experience