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The older I get the more of my mother I see in myself. Nancy Friday, ‘My Mother, My Self’, 1977
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his. Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
My mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back. Denzel Washington
Attachment theory as it’s known still forms the basis of our thinking about how important it is for mother and baby to have a good bond. Carrot or Stick? A Horizon Guide to Raising Kids, BBC 2011
Increasing awareness of abuse passing down generations turned the spotlight on mothers in a new way, not just to blame them but to try and help them too. ibid.
Perhaps in homage to her own mother Cassatt explored more intently than ever the subject of mother and child. Great Artists with Tim Marlow: Mary Cassatt
Jesus makes large claims for his heavenly father but never mentions that his mother is or was a virgin, and is repeatedly very rude and coarse to her when she makes an appearance. Christopher Hitchens
Make your peace with her. The Sopranos: Do Not Resucitate s2e2 starring James Gandolfini & Lorriane Bracco & Edie Falco & Michael Imperioli & Dominic Chianese & Steven van Zandt & Tony Sirico & Robert Iler et al, Uncle Junior to Tony, of Tony’s mother, HBO 2002
She’s too miserable to die. ibid. Tony
That selfish miserable cunt. The Sopranos s3e2: Proshai Livushka s3e2 re mother
Don’t bullshit me. You’ve been bullshitting me my entire life ... I gave you everything ... You’re a fraud and a phony. And she’s even worse. She’s a whore. My mother’s a fucking whore. The Sopranos s6e4: The Fleshy Part of the Thigh, Pauli
My mother was a borderline personality ... There was little love in the house. Very difficult woman ... She turned on me. Completely. You see, I never could please my mother. The Sopranos s6e21: Made in America, Tony
Everyone was in love with my mom. So anyone could be my dad. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 2005 starring Curtis 50 Cent Jackson & Marc John Jefferies & Terrence Howard & Joy Bryant & Omar Benson Miller & Bill Duke & Viola Davis et al, director Jim Sheridan, commentary
He’s still Mr Big – in prison or out. White Heat 1949 starring James Cagney & Virginia Mayo & Edmond O’Brien & Margaret Wycherly & Steve Cochran & Ford Rainey & John Archer & Wally Cassell & Fred Clark et al, director Raoul Walsh, Mrs Cody
Made it, Ma! Top of the world! ibid. Cody
What are you saying – that I wanted to fuck my mother? Have you ever seen my mother? Are you out of your fucking mind? Well then Freud’s a sick fucker, and you are too for bringing it up. Aaargh! Analyze This 1999, starring Robert De Niro & Billy Crystal & Lisa Kudrow & Chazz Palminteri & Joe Viterelli & Kyle Sabihy & Pat Cooper & Joe Rigano & Leo Rossi et al, director Harold Ramis, Vitti to Sobel
Shall I be mother? The Ladykillers 1955 starring Alec Guinness & Peter Sellers & Cecil Parker & Herbert Lom & Danny Green & Jack Warner & Frankie Howerd & Katie Johnson et al, director Alexander Mackendrick, Mrs Wilberforce
My mother – what’s the phrase – isn’t quite herself today. Psycho 1960 starring Janet Leigh & Anthony Perkins & Vera Miles & John Gavin & Martin Balsam & John McIntire & Simon Oakland & Frank Albertson & Pat Hitchcock & Vaughn Taylor et al, director Alfred Hitchcock
Matricide is probably the most unbearable crime of all ... He tried to be his mother. And now his is. ibid. shrink
My mother is a little eccentric. Star Trek s1e11: The Next Generation: Haven, Troi to Picard
Out of all the females of all the species in all the galaxies I have chosen you to be the mother of my child. Star Trek: Voyager s3e11: The Q and the Grey, Q
There is no greater honour for a woman than to be the mother of Germany’s sons and daughters. This is the highest honour she can attain. Adolf Hitler
Oh mother, mother, what have you done? Coriolanus 2011 starring Ralph Fiennes & Gerard Butler & Vanessa Redgrave & Brian Cox & Jessica Chastain & John Kani & James Nesbitt & Paul Jesson & Lubna Azabal & Ashraf Barhom et al, director Ralph Fiennes
I’m not saying my mother didn’t like me, but she kept looking for loopholes in my birth certificate. Les Dawson
[Barbara lights cigarette]: You are a good mother, Denise. The Royle Family s3e3 ***** Decorating with Twiggy
Post-baby fatigue. What can you do? ibid. Denise to Barbara
Cheryl: He’s [Baby] gone down.
Denise: Who? ibid.
To be honest, Barb, I wasn’t a fit mother. The Royle Family s3e6: Christening, Twiggy’s girlfriend
See, you are a good mother. ibid. David
It’s mother is a jekyll. The Omen 2006 starring Liev Schreiber & Mia Farrow & David Thewlis & Pete Postlethwaite & Michael Gambon & Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick & et al, director John Moore
My mother was simply a wonderful woman. No man ever had a finer mother. Ron Kray
Very few people survive one mother. Manhattan 1979 starring Woody Allen & Diane Keaton & Michael Murphy & Mariel Hemingway & Meryl Streep & Anne Byrne & Michael O’Donoghue & Wallace Shawn & Karen Ludwig & Charles Levin & Karen Allen & David Rasche et al, director Woody Allen
Yeah, you run, lady. And you’re about the worst example of a mother I’ve ever had on this stage. Why don’t you run? The Jeremy Kyle Show, November 2011 repeat, ‘Mum, Why Did You Not Stop My Stepdad from Beating Me?’
We have a beautiful
mother
Her green lap
immense
Her brown embrace
eternal
Her blue body
everything
we know. Alice Walker, We Have a Beautiful Mother, 1991
Rick: Well, Vyvyan, you never told us your mother was a bartender.
Vyvyan: Well she was a shoplifter when I knew her. The Young Ones, Boring, BBC 1982
Of a mother’s little helper,
And it helps her on her way,
Gets her through her busy day. The Rolling Stones, Mother’s Little Helper, 1966
The mother’s yearning, that completest type of the life in another life which is the essence of real human love, feels the presence of the cherished child even in the debased, degraded man. George Eliot, Adam Bede
Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother. W Somerset Maughan
Motherhood has most definitely changed me and my life. It’s so crazy how drastic even the small details change – in such an amazing way. Even silly things, like the fact that all of my pictures on my cell phone used to be of me at photo shoots – conceited, I know! But now every single picture on my phone is of Mason. Kourtney Kardashian
News of his mother’s death shakes Odysseus to the core. Professor Simon Armitage, Gods and Monsters: Homer’s Odyssey, 2010
O do not learn here wrath! She taught it thee.
The milk thou suck’st from her did turn to marble,
Even at the teat thou hadst thy tyrrany.
Yet every mother breeds not sons alike. William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus II iii 143-146, Lavinia
Here is your brother, lords, sensibly fed
Of that self blood that first gave life to you,
And from the womb where you imprisoned were
He is enfranchised and come to light. ibid. IV ii 121-125
Thy mother felt more than a mother’s pain
And yet brought forth less than a mother’s hope. William Shakespeare, Richard Duke of York V vi 49-50
O mother, mother!
What have you done? Behold, the heavens do ope,
The gods look down, and this unnatural scene
They laugh at. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus V iii 182
Thou art thy mother’s glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 3
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. Ezekiel 19:1&2&10