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John Updike Quotes

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the Earth; without rain, there would be no life Picture Quote #1

Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic uninterestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity (in the Harvard sense) of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead? Picture Quote #1

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough, from the standpoint of a stateless eunuch, but merely a provocative epigram for those who must make their arrangements in the world as given Picture Quote #1

Looking foolish does the spirit good. The need not to look foolish is one of youth's many burdens; as we get older we are exempted from more and more, and float upward in our heedlessness, singing Gratia Dei sum quod sum [Thanks be to God that I am what I am.] Picture Quote #1

The yearning for an afterlife is the opposite of selfish: it is love and praise for the world that we are privileged, in this complex interval of light, to witness and experience Picture Quote #1

The guarantee that our self enjoys an intended relation to the outer world is most, if not all, we ask from religion. God is the self projected onto reality by our natural and necessary optimism. He is the not-me personified Picture Quote #1

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Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face. As soon as one is aware of being somebody, to be watched and listened to with extra interest, input ceases, and the performer goes blind and deaf in his overanimation. One can either see or be seen Picture Quote #1

What more fiendish proof of cosmic irresponsibility than a Nature which, having invented sex as a way to mix genes, then permits to arise, amid all its perfumed and hypnotic inducements to mate, a tireless tribe of spirochetes and viruses that torture and kill us for following orders? Picture Quote #1

Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second Coming that would not be cut down to size by the televised evening news, or a Last Judgment not subject to pages of holier-than-Thou second-guessing in the New York Review of Books Picture Quote #1

When we try in good faith to believe in materialism, in the exclusive reality of the physical, we are asking our selves to step aside; we are disavowing the very realm where we exist and where all things precious are kept - the realm of emotion and conscience, of memory and intention and sensation Picture Quote #1

In the old movies, yes, there always was the happy ending and order was restored. As it is in Shakespeare's plays. It's no disgrace to, in the end, restore order. and punish the wicked and, in some way, reward the righteous Picture Quote #1

A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens Picture Quote #1

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An affair wants to spill, to share its glory with the world. No act is so private it does not seek applause Picture Quote #1

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of his verse, the poet walks gagged through his own biography Picture Quote #1

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better Picture Quote #1

For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what we must do - they are glowing signifiers of our own necessities Picture Quote #1

Four years was enough of Harvard. I still had a lot to learn, but had been given the liberating notion that now I could teach myself Picture Quote #1

From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the secrets to be discovered are so paltry and few Picture Quote #1

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If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money Picture Quote #1

The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever Picture Quote #1

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all Picture Quote #1

There is no pleasing New Englanders, my dear, their soil is all rocks and their hearts are bloodless absolutes Picture Quote #1

There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't Picture Quote #1

To be President of the United States, sir, is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client; still, one must make the best of the case, for the purposes of Providence Picture Quote #1

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Truth should not be forced; it should simply manifest itself, like a woman who has in her privacy reflected and coolly decided to bestow herself upon a certain man Picture Quote #1

Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he had to say in his works Picture Quote #1

We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great extent, to be sociable Picture Quote #1

When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas Picture Quote #1

Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare to go it alone Picture Quote #1

You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it Picture Quote #1

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Text Quotes

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the Earth; without rain, there would be no life (John Updike Quotes) Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic uninterestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity (in the Harvard sense) of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead? (John Updike Quotes) To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough, from the standpoint of a stateless eunuch, but merely a provocative epigram for those who must make their arrangements in the world as given (John Updike Quotes) Looking foolish does the spirit good. The need not to look foolish is one of youth's many burdens; as we get older we are exempted from more and more, and float upward in our heedlessness, singing Gratia Dei sum quod sum [Thanks be to God that I am what I am.] (John Updike Quotes) The yearning for an afterlife is the opposite of selfish: it is love and praise for the world that we are privileged, in this complex interval of light, to witness and experience (John Updike Quotes) The guarantee that our self enjoys an intended relation to the outer world is most, if not all, we ask from religion. God is the self projected onto reality by our natural and necessary optimism. He is the not-me personified (John Updike Quotes) Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face. As soon as one is aware of being somebody, to be watched and listened to with extra interest, input ceases, and the performer goes blind and deaf in his overanimation. One can either see or be seen (John Updike Quotes) What more fiendish proof of cosmic irresponsibility than a Nature which, having invented sex as a way to mix genes, then permits to arise, amid all its perfumed and hypnotic inducements to mate, a tireless tribe of spirochetes and viruses that torture and kill us for following orders? (John Updike Quotes) Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second Coming that would not be cut down to size by the televised evening news, or a Last Judgment not subject to pages of holier-than-Thou second-guessing in the New York Review of Books (John Updike Quotes) When we try in good faith to believe in materialism, in the exclusive reality of the physical, we are asking our selves to step aside; we are disavowing the very realm where we exist and where all things precious are kept - the realm of emotion and conscience, of memory and intention and sensation (John Updike Quotes) In the old movies, yes, there always was the happy ending and order was restored. As it is in Shakespeare's plays. It's no disgrace to, in the end, restore order. and punish the wicked and, in some way, reward the righteous (John Updike Quotes) A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens (John Updike Quotes) An affair wants to spill, to share its glory with the world. No act is so private it does not seek applause (John Updike Quotes) But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of his verse, the poet walks gagged through his own biography (John Updike Quotes) Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better (John Updike Quotes) For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what we must do - they are glowing signifiers of our own necessities (John Updike Quotes) Four years was enough of Harvard. I still had a lot to learn, but had been given the liberating notion that now I could teach myself (John Updike Quotes) From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the secrets to be discovered are so paltry and few (John Updike Quotes) If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money (John Updike Quotes) The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever (John Updike Quotes) The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all (John Updike Quotes) There is no pleasing New Englanders, my dear, their soil is all rocks and their hearts are bloodless absolutes (John Updike Quotes) There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't (John Updike Quotes) To be President of the United States, sir, is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client; still, one must make the best of the case, for the purposes of Providence (John Updike Quotes) Truth should not be forced; it should simply manifest itself, like a woman who has in her privacy reflected and coolly decided to bestow herself upon a certain man (John Updike Quotes) Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he had to say in his works (John Updike Quotes) We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great extent, to be sociable (John Updike Quotes) When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas (John Updike Quotes) Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare to go it alone (John Updike Quotes) You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it (John Updike Quotes)

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