Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker resented his mother and wanted to escape boarding school.
In plain terms
He wanted to get away from his abusive mother.
What can you take from it?
Escaping toxic family dynamics can be essential for wellbeing.

Where it applies

  • adolescence
  • boarding school

Putting it to work

  • seek supportive environments
  • establish boundaries

Questions to consider

  • How does family trauma affect education choices?
  • What support can help?

Another view

The quote is a personal anecdote and may not reflect broader experiences.

More from Gore Vidal

  1. Everything's wrong on Wikipedia.

    Permalink to quote #60
  2. Some of my father's fellow West Pointers once asked him why I turned out so well, his secret in raising me. And he said, 'I never gave him any advice, and he n…

    Permalink to quote #62
  3. You hear all this whining going on, 'Where are our great writers?' The thing I might feel doleful about is: Where are the readers?

    Permalink to quote #59

Related quotes

  1. As the little boy said when asked if he wanted to be a lawyer like his mother, 'Oh no, that's women's work.' (Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions)

    Gloria SteinemGloria Steinem quote #1
  2. My mother made me a scientist without ever intending to. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: So? Did you learn anything tod…

    Isidor Isaac RabiIsidor Isaac Rabi quote #2
  3. As we read the school reports on our children, we realize a sense of relief that can rise to delight that thank Heaven nobody is reporting in this fashion on u…

    Joseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley quote #2