"This was when it hit him! The thought of losing his entire family in one day suddenly made his heart ache in a way that he didn't think could be possible."

"My memory of my household is of one immersed in books and music. I have a very intimate relationship with Bengali literature, particularly Tagore, and my interest besides reading then was music."

"The mother is always at fault. So is the wife, really. Women are supposed to control men, isn't that how it goes? What's that saying again: 'behind every great man is a great woman.' we're supposed to be the ones holding them back. Forget having our own lives. Forget our own careers and loves and losses. We're the matriarchs."

"He still had the power to stagger her at timessimply the fact that he was breathing that all his organs were in their proper places that blood flowed quietly and effectively through his small sturdy limbs. He was her flesh and blood her mother had told her in the hospital the day Akash was born."

"Marriage is a core component of the patriarchal system. According to Gerda Lerner's research on ancient societies, a woman could achieve at least some status, and with that, better treatment and privileges, through preserving her only capital – her virginity – and eventually offering it to just one man."

"I want to speak directly to the audience, to say, 'I'm like you - I'm frustrated, I'm not an expert, I don't have a manual on parenting, I make mistakes, I'm selfish too.'."

"And whether it is equal pay, health care, Social Security, or family leave, this Congress has refused to address issues critical to hard-working American women."

"Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom they first played with."

"Because we are the only women who are mothers of men.' Gorgo: when asked by a woman from Attica why Spartan women were the only women in the world who could rule men."