"My dream had always just been to do my work well, fall in love and build a life for myself"
About this Quote
The triad is revealing in its order. First, craft: the actor's private standard, not the public scoreboard. Then love: not as a fantasy, but as something you "fall" into, accidental and human, a counterweight to the transactional. Finally, "build a life for myself" lands like a small act of rebellion. It's not "a family" or "a home" as society scripts it; it's self-authorship, a claim to stability on her own terms.
Snodgress's era mattered. A mid-century actress was routinely asked to be available, agreeable, and grateful, with career arcs often tethered to male partners, studios, or headlines. Her phrasing reads like a refusal of that arrangement: a demand to be evaluated by the quality of her labor and the integrity of her private life, not by visibility. The subtext is both wistful and steely: if the dream sounds simple, it's because it has to be defended. In a culture that confuses being watched with being known, she names the older, harder project of actually living.
Quote Details
| Topic | Life |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Snodgress, Carrie. (2026, January 15). My dream had always just been to do my work well, fall in love and build a life for myself. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-dream-had-always-just-been-to-do-my-work-well-170538/
Chicago Style
Snodgress, Carrie. "My dream had always just been to do my work well, fall in love and build a life for myself." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-dream-had-always-just-been-to-do-my-work-well-170538/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My dream had always just been to do my work well, fall in love and build a life for myself." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-dream-had-always-just-been-to-do-my-work-well-170538/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.












