quote · Legacy record
Like so many of our neighbors who latched onto tragedy to stand out from the crowd -- slavery, incest, a suicide -- I had exaggerated the ethnic chip on my shoulder for effect. I've learned since that tragedy is not to be hoarded. Only the untouched, the well-fed and contented, could possibly covet suffering like a designer jacket. I'd readily donate my story to the Salvation Army so that some other frump in need of color could wear it away.
Like so many of our neighbors who latched onto tragedy to stand out from the crowd -- slavery, incest, a suicide -- I had exaggerated the ethnic chip on my shoulder for effect. I've learned since that tragedy is not to be hoarded. Only the untouched, the well-fed and contented, could possibly covet suffering like a designer jacket. I'd readily donate my story to the Salvation Army so that some other frump in need of color could wear it away.
Approximate author period: c. 1957 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Lionel Shriver
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1957 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1957; activity date not established; Wikidata Q622232, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q622232 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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- Contributor-provided quotation collection
Supplied reference C; CSV row 343792; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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