Bernard Malamud
20 quotes
Biography
"Where to look if you've lost your mind?"
"We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness."
"Without heroes, we're all plain people, and don't know how far we can go."
"I don't think you can do anything for anyone without giving up something of your own."
"Levin wanted friendship and got friendliness; he wanted steak and they offered spam."
"If you ever forget you are a Jew a goy will remind you."
"Mourning is a hard business," Cesare said. "If people knew there'd be less death."
"… keep in mind that the purpose of freedom is to create it for others."
"There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to – if there are no doors or windows – he walks through a wall."
"I think I said "All men are Jews except they don't know it." I doubt I expected anyone to take the statement literally. But I think it's an understandable statement and a metaphoric way of indicating how history, sooner or later, treats all men."
"One can't make pure clay of time's mud. There is no life that can be recaptured wholly; as it was. Which is to say that all biography is ultimately fiction."
"Those who write about life, reflect about life…. you see in others who you are."
"Life is a tragedy full of joy."
"It was all those biographies in me yelling, “We want out. We want to tell you what we’ve done to you.”"
"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilisation from destroying itself.", September 14, 1958)"
"If the stories come, you get them written, you're on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you."
"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilisation from destroying it"
"A writer is a spectator, looking at everything with a highly critical eye."
"Without heroes we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go."
"The idea is to get the pencil moving quickly."