“Suppose I had to confront every day, every hour, the question of which side I'm on? Such questions excite and disturb me.”

“I think ‘Acid Test’ is a great book, certainly the best to come out of the ’60s… But there is something more: ‘Acid Test’ is about the whole sticky problem of optimism.”

“Nearly four decades after it was first published in France... ‘The Second Sex’ remains the most cogent and thorough book of feminist theory yet written.”

‘Two years ago, abortion was almost always discussed in feminist terms — as a political issue affecting the condition of women. Since then, the grounds of the debate have shifted drastically.’

‘The new consensus is that the family is our last refuge; the idea that there could be desirable alternatives to the family is no longer taken seriously’

Ellen was a fearless, incisive critic, but she also created as much as she critiqued