Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There's evil in the world, all right. Being aware of it makes you a realist, not a paranoid.
In my personal life, I'm a comic novel. But then, so are we all, because we're human beings.
Human cruelty and treachery surpassed all understanding. There were no answers. Only excuses.
In the wind, the trees, like agitated lions preparing to roar, shook their great green manes.
In the belly of Leviathan ... one can either despair and perish, or be cheerful and persevere.
Southerners have many fine qualities, charm and civility among them, and a sense of the tragic.
Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid.
I believe in the possibility of miracles but, more to the point, I believe in our need for them.
I don't mean to imply that I'm afraid of Death. I'm just not ready to go out on a date with him.
Loss is the hardest thing, I said. But it's also the teacher that's the most difficult to ignore.
When life hands us a beutiful bouquet of flowers we stare at it in cautious expectation of a bee.
The brain acknowledged the approach of death while the heart stubbornly insisted upon immortality.
Life had not taught me to distrust ministers, but it had taught me to trust no one more than dogs.
Fear is a poison produced by the mind, and courage is the antidote stored always ready in the soul
There's still a fascination with somebody who can write at book length, no matter what the book is.
Most universities are no longer temples of knowledge, but of power, and true moderns worship there.
If you have to pay the bills, and you write something you're not proud of, use a pen-name for that.
You have to stop worrying about looking foolish, 'cause fear of being humiliated really limits you.
Darkness dwells within even the best of us. In the worst of us, darkness not only dwells but reigns.
I think the world is full of evil people. I think in some ways we're in more danger now than before.
I survive by finding the sweet spot between reason and unreason, between the rational and irrational.
What looks tragic might be comic on second consideration, and what is comic might bring tears in time.
Being alone can be good. It's easy to find peace alone. But sometimes, being alone is a king of death.
less real than such threats as a man with a gun, a woman with a knife, or a U.S. Senator with an idea.
The functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.
Home was not a perfect place. But it was the only home they had and they could hope to make it better.
Home is the first refuge from - and last defense against - the disappointments and the terrors of life.
One door away from heaven And the key is ours to lose. One door away from heaven But oh, the entry dues.
I don't write a quick draft and then revise; instead, I work slowly page by page, revising and polishing.
What will happen will happen. There is time for miracles until there is no more time, but time has no end.
She says what holds their marriage together is that she feels too damn sorry for him to ask for a divorce.
Loving the ideal more than the reality is the cause of all the misery the human species creates for itself.
Given my heritage and the ordeal of my childhood, I sometimes wonder why I myself am not insane. Maybe I am.
The word impossible contains the word possible' What's that-- some Zen thing?' I think Star Trek. Mr. Spock.
I think it's perfectly just to refuse service to anyone based on behavior, but not based on race or religion.
Vladimir Nabokov said the two great evils of the 20th century were Marx and Freud. He was absolutely correct.
No degree of prosperity can be sufficient to eliminate all misfortune, and sloth is impervious to opportunity.
We're out of cocktail olives, it's a tragedy of historic proportions, but we're coping because we're Americans.
Too much mystery is merely an annoyance. Too much adventure is exhausting. And a little terror goes a long way.
I'll sit in the park and feed the pigeons for a while.' We don't have pigeons.' Then I'll feed the pterodactyls.
I've got a long list of books I wish I'd never written-and I've kept them all out of print for the past 20 years.
I never discuss a novel while I'm writing it, for fear that talking about it will diminish my desire to write it.
You know what's wrong with humanity?... The greatest gift we were given is our free will, and we keep misusing it.
I always thought happiness was a choice and I always chose things that made me happy, and books were one of those.
Then what are you? An electronic Hannibal Lector? You can't eat my liver with fava beans through a modem, you know.
Despair is good. Despair can be the nadir of one life and the starting point of an ascent into another, better one.
I've had good publishers and bad publishers, and you've got to learn when the advice is sensible and when it's not.
Without faith to act as a governor, the human mind is a runaway worry generator, a dynamo of negative expectations.
The recognition of pain and fear in others give rise in us to pity, and in our pity is our humanity, our redemption.
I think it's the people who have no doubt that every word they put down is gold that probably don't write very well.