50 quotes
American author (1922–2007)
“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDEDFOR THE EXISTENCE OF GODWAS MUSIC”
"When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed."
on Writing
"Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead."
on Philosophy
"Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because the moment simply is."
"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why."
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
on Identity
"...a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit."
on Art
"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
on Love
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."
on Kindness
"And a step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction."
on Wisdom
"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."
on Life
"New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become."
"Q: What is wrong with the world?A: Everybody pays attention to pictures of things. Nobody pays attention to things themselves."
on Perception
"Sordid things, for the most part, are what make human beings, my father included, move. That's what it is to be human, I'm afraid."
"You'll forget it when you're dead, and so will I. When I'm dead, I'm going to forget everything–and I advise you to do the same."
on Death
"If you can't write clearly, you probably don't think nearly as well as you think you do."
"Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it."
"Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself."
"We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down."
on Courage
"Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?"
"I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all."
