This was the dawn of plastic eating in America.… We doted on Velveeta. Spam. Canned ravioli. Instant puddings. Instant anything. The farther a thing was from the texture, flavor, and terrifying unpredictability of real food, the better.

—Shirley Abbott

reality USA America food better flavor

More quotations from Shirley Abbott

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.

—Shirley Abbott

history knowledge

As I grew to adolescence, I imagined, from closely observing the boredom and vexations of matrimony, that the act my parents committed and the one I so longed to commit must be two different things.

—Shirley Abbott

parents boredom marriage

More quotations tagged with “better”

Love's about finding the one person who makes your heart complete. Who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be.

—Julia Quinn in The Viscount Who Loved Me

love relationships completion better

I believe that having something to hope for—even if it's just a better tomorrow—is the most powerful drug on this planet.

—Jodi Picoult in The Storyteller

power hope better

I'm tired of waiting. It's time for us to find our own voice, to do our own organizing, to push forward on reform, to push forward on issues of economic justice, and to make the United States of America, this good country, even better.

—Paul Wellstone

justice action USA waiting better

It's better to go into the world half-cocked than not to go into the world at all.

—James Hillman

action world better

Our ideals are our better selves.

—Amos Bronson Alcott

morality self better ideals

History

3 Dec 2014 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

This was the dawn of plastic eating in America. . . . We doted on Velveeta. Spam. Canned ravioli. Instant puddings. Instant anything. The farther a thing was from the texture, flavor, and terrifying unpredictability of real food, the better.