Candace bushnell quotes

Man might have identified fire, but women identified the way to enjoy with it.

You can get used to anything, I guess, if you've been there enough.

Love is dangerous, if you know it's dangerous, that makes you treasure it, and you'll work harder to keep it.

It was ironic, but when you scratched the surface, most successful men were working for one thing only--to retire--and the sooner the better. Whereas women were the complete opposite. She had never heard a woman say she was working so she could retire to a desert island or to live on a boat. It was probably, she thought, because most women didn't think they deserved to do nothing.

Why do I keep evading my work? Is it because I’m afraid of being confronted by my lack of abilities?

All those men who end up disappointing you. After a while, you don't even want to have feelings anymore. You just want to get on with your life.

The most important thing to strive for in life is some kind of personal and professional achievement. Not as a man or a woman, but as a person.

Who am I supposed to be again? Just be yourself. But who am I?

- I don't want to be a writer so I can write about my life. I want to be a writer to escape from it. + Then you shouldn't be a writer.

Love is spiritual. It's about self-sacrifice and commitment. And discipline. You cannot have true love without discipline and respect. When you lose the respect of your spouse, you've lost everything.

I love things that are old and glittery, that come with layers of glamour and past lives.

Money follows art. Money wants what it can't buy. Class and talent. And remember while there's a talent for making money, it takes real talent to know how to spend it.

At first, being with Sebastian was like being in the middle of the best dream I'd ever had - but now it mostly feels exhausting. I'm up one minute and down the next; questioning what I say and do. Even questioning my sanity.

Whoever we are here, we might be princesses somewhere else. Or writers. Or scientists. Or presidents. Or whatever the hell we want to be that everyone else says we can't.

Oh I don't plan on getting married. It's a legalized form of prostitution.

Out of all the neighborhoods in Manhattan, Soho in particular had the charged atmosphere of a movie set, populated with passersby who looked like extras from Central Casting, so perfectly did they fit into this environment. There was the feeling of everything being not quite real, or too perfectly cliched to actually be true, and it began to rain in a fine, misty drizzle from a black patent leather sky.

As Im writing, certain things become clear to me and certain things begin to feel right and make sense. The pieces start to fall into place.

We're comfortable with movie stars having money. We're comfortable with a woman marrying a rich guy and having money. We're not so comfortable with a woman independently working in business and making a lot of money.

There's a brief moment when you first wake up, where you have no memories. A blissful blank slate, a happy emptiness.

New York is a city where people are ambitious. They want things.

Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with them. -Carrie Bradshaw

When I was 8, I was reading a book in which it was snowing. When I looked outside, I expected there to be snow on the ground. I thought, "This is the most powerful thing I can do! I'm going to be a writer."

Better alone than badly accompanied.

Sometimes I want to be on 'The Real Housewives of New York.' I want to remind them to figure out how to get along and support each other.

And the sooner you do the right thing, the better. You get it over with, and you don’t have to worry about it anymore. But who does that in real life?

I don't consider my work a job. I consider it a career. And you don't quit a career.

Some people are settling down, some people are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies.

Always look like you know where you're going, even when you don't

Grace was one of those types who never changed but only aged and had no apparent expectations or ambitions other than the wish that her life should remain the same.

You have to let go of who you were, to become who you will be.

When it comes to people -- don't write about who you know; but what you know of human nature.

. . . She was obsessed with clothes and status, how she never gave a thought to being responsible for her own actions, or even what she might do for anyone else-making her the ultimate example of all that was wrong and misguided about young women today.

The most important thing in business is a persona, Nico,' he was fond of saying. 'People want to know immediately what they're dealing with. And when they think about you, you've got to stand out in their minds--like one of those characters in a novel.

Like me, he has a searing belief that books are sacred. They might not be to other people, but when you have a passion, you hold on to it. You defend it. You dont pretend it isn't important at the risk of offending others." -Carrie.

The only way to look at men is like they're electrons. They have all these charges sticking out, and they're always looking for a hole where they can put those charges.

I don't like to think of myself as a 'virgin'. I prefer to think of myself as 'sexually incomplete'. You know. Like I haven't finished the course yet.

As long as you're neurotic and crazy, he's great. But once he solves all your problems, he becomes the problem.

Well I actually do have a country house in Connecticut with a population of 3,000. Like, how small is that? I spend a lot of time there - I write up there. So I kind of have the best of both worlds and I love going up there.

My decorating and renovation skills are nil - indeed, I once used a shower curtain from Pottery Barn as 'window dressing.

Meanwhile I'll probably see him again. That's how sick I am.

My parents had a great marriage. Interestingly, it made it harder for me in relationships because I knew what a good relationship looked like.

Man may have discovered fire, but women discovered how to play with it.

The heart wants what the heart wants

Sometimes you have to find the passion. It comes from the inside... Everyone has to find it for themselves.

That's the difference between girls and women: Girls find men fascinating. Women know better.

I don't go to parties to meet men. I go to parties to stand in a corner and watch people.

We hate guys who date more than one woman at a time. I've always believed that what's unacceptable in one sex should, by definition, be unacceptable in the other.

If a woman could take care of herself, would she still need a man? Would she even want one? And if she didn't want a man, what kind of woman would she be? Would she even be a woman? Because it seemed if you were a woman, the only thing you were really supposed to want was a man.

Guys are like dogs: they never notice if you've changed your hair, but they can sense when there's another guy sniffing around their territory

All men are a disappointment. No matter what anyone says.

maybe he's falling in love with the idea of falling in love with me. Maybe he wants to be in love with someone and I've ended up in the right place at the right time.

I actually don't shop very much. I have a tendency to rotate a few pairs of ripped jeans and an old cashmere sweater.

The heart wants what the heart wants," she says, somewhat cryptically. I purse my lips in disapproval. "You'd think the heart would know better.

I didn't want it to be this way." "Yes, you did," she said, "because it is." "I just want to be with someone normal," he said. "I just want to have a normal life." "Excuse me," she said. "You're a little crazy," he said. "You're too old to act the way you do. You've got to grow up. You've got to take care of yourdelf. I'm afraid for you. You can't think that people are going to take care of you all the time.

When you're alone, it's easier," she said a little wistfully. "You can do what you want. You don't have to go home.

Happiness comes out of being willing to do your work in your twenties to find out who you are, what you love.

I sometimes read in a gossip column that I was at a party when I was in Europe at the time. It sometimes feels I've got a Doppelganger somewhere.

It's always the people who don't want things who get them.

I can only hope he's an Aries and not a Scorpio.

... he was juggling issues and solving problems, which was why his brain had no space left for memories.

I think, when men tell women to lose weight, it's a diversion from their own lack of size in certain areas.

Well in the book Carrie was my alter ego. In real life, Sarah Jessica and I don't look anything alike. But people do say that we sound alike. Sarah Jessica is an adorable girl and she is very funny.

I've always thought there are two ways of getting what you wanted in life.Forcing people to give it to you,or making them want to give it to you.

I'm certainly not going to put my life on hold for him.

Retribution is tricky. . . . The insult isn't usually worth the risk of punishment. And eventually one learns that karma has a surprising way of taking care of these situations. All you have to do is sit back and watch.

Funny always makes the bad things go away.

I can safely conclude that we are single because we want to be.

There are so many beautiful girls around that after a while you start looking for someone who can make you laugh

I started working for the 'NY Observer' when I was 33. After I had been writing for them for about a year and a half the editor said, 'Your stories are the most talked about stories in the 'Observer'; you should have your own column.'

I think that one of the things that has changed the perception is that there are so many more single people. In New York City, it's 47 percent. When you have that many people who are single, they have a bigger voice and they're more willing to speak and say, 'We're not miserable, we're not sitting at home waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right, we're having a good time.' And I think single people have better friendships.

It was the first honest emotional connection I'd had in a while. So I immediately panicked and had to leave.

Rule number one: Why is it that the one time a cute guy talks to you, you have a friend who's in crisis?

A guy who is crazily, madly in love with you. A guy who sees how incredible and amazing you are, even though you’re not the cheerleader or even close to the prettiest girl in the school. A guy who thinks you’re beautiful, just the way you are.

Should, is the worst word in the English language. People always think things "should" be a certain way, and when they're not, they're disappointed.

You don't want to peak in high school. If you do, the rest of your life is a disaster.

It’s tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent, or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not to quit, play the hand we’ve been dealt, and accessorize what we’ve got.

I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. Shame is a useless emotion.

I have this theory: If you forgive someone, they can't hurt you anymore.

He leans over and kisses me. And suddenly, my life splits in two: before and after.

This is the most powerful thing I can do! I'm going to be a writer.

Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder--no matter how old you became and how much you'd seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.

What I have yet to see is a real woman choose a younger man because he spent six hours a day at the gym trying to sculpt his abs.

Patent leather wedges-they were big when I went to prom!

Women with money and women in power are two uncomfortable ideas in our society.

The '90s are really the 'Sex and the City' woman, and I think, right now, the new contemporary woman is the 'Lipstick Jungle' woman.

It's hard to be careful, though, when you feel indestructible.

If you smile, even if you’re feeling bad, the action of the muscles will trick your brain into thinking you’re happy

She didn't want to have anything to do with the party. She was tired of feeling like she didn't fit in, but she didn't want to go home, either, because she was a tired of being lonely and she was a little drunk.

After all, it's woman, who decide, if a man is desirable or undesirable.

I can't wait to get out of the house. I can't wait to get out of here. I've been telling myself this all week. The 'getting out of here' part is unspecified, though. Maybe I simply want to get away from life

What Sex and the City did for sex and relationships, Lipstick Jungle does for success and power.

Sometimes I think all the trouble in the world is caused by men. If there were no men, women would always be happy. ~Carrie

Why do magazines do this to women? It's all about creating insecurity. Trying to make women feel like they're not good enough. And when women don't feel like they're good enough, guess what? Men win. That's how they keep us down.

So much of being a woman is telling lies

The '80s was all about this idea that women could have it all. You could have a career, and you could have a husband, and you could have children.

A writer must be fearless. A writer has to be like a clawed animal." -The Carrie Diaries pg. 337

Life gives you lots of chances to screw up which means you have just as many chances to get it right.

Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.

You choose the end of the summer to fall in love with this guy because secretly, you don’t want it to last.

Have I ever been in love? Really in love? And why is it that with each new guy I think I'm more in love with him than the last?

You don't have to do everything by the time you're 30. Or 40. All you need is a work ethic. It's what allows you to push through moments of disappointment and self-doubt and fear.

'Lipstick Jungle' was on the air for 20 episodes - I loved 'Lipstick Jungle.'

It was scary how a girl couldn't live without friends.

The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor.

If I'm with a man, is that going to prevent me from achieving my goal? What sacrifices will I have to make in terms of being myself, if I'm with a man? Something that young women find out really quickly is that when you start dating, all of a sudden you're supposed to have a role. You're not allowed to just be yourself.

I make mistakes. That's what I do. I speak without thinking, I act without knowing. I drink so much that I can barely walk...I'm a fantastic lover though, and an amazing friend. God knows I mean well.

Some secrets are better left at that -as secrets.

In life,there are only four kinds of girls: The girl who played with fire. The girl who opened Pandora's Box. The girl who gave Adam the apple. And the girl whose best friend stole her boyfriend.

And if you were always spending your time getting over your past, how were you supposed to get on with your future?

Just because something doesn't last forever, it doesn't mean it wasn't meaningful while it did last. It doesn't mean it wasn't important.

What if I'm a princess on another planet? And no one on this planet knows it?

A glittering disco ball spins from the ceiling, but the music is something I've never heard, discordant and haunting and insistent, the kind of music that demands you dance.

There's so many things that mattered so much in my 20s and 30s that don't matter now.

The key to life is your attitude. Whether you're single or married or have kids or don't have kids, it's how you look at your life, what you make of it. It's about making the best of your life wherever you are in life.

There is a thin line between attraction and repulsion

From my experience, honey, if he seems too good to be true—he probably is.

Maybe mistakes are what make our fate... without them what would shape our lives? Maybe if we had never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, have babies, or be who we are. After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away

I do not pick the wrong guys. They pick me.

The joke that I make is that there are instances on the TV series that happen to me, - except on Sex and the City they always make it better or worse than real life and I am actually saying that in a joking way.

For me, having it all is being paid to write novels.

Men, Babies, it doesn't matter...we're soulmates

sometimes the best thing to do is to pretend it didn't happen

The world is full of people who all want the same thing, and you have to do a little something extra to make them remember you.

Rule number three: Best friends always think you deserve the best guy even if the best guy barely knows you exist.

Sex and the City was about looking for Mr Big and trying to find him.