Helpless

Famous quotes containing the word helpless:

    “Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
    Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
    “Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write!””
    —Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)

    “I am a sort of martyr, as you see,
    A horizontal monument to patience.
    The calves of waitresses parade about
    My helpless head upon this sodden floor.
    Well, I am down again, but not yet out.
    O sweet frustrations, I shall be back for more.”
    —Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)

    “As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erotic, castrating, heart-suffering, guilt-ridden, and guilt-provoking; a marble brow, a huge breast, an avid cave; between her legs snakes, swampgrass, or teeth; on her lap a helpless infant or a martyred son. She exists for one purpose: to bear and nourish the son.”
    —Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)