Quotes from Philip Roth

nor had I understood till then how the shameless vanity of utter fools can so strongly determine the fate of others.

Su madre? Dónde, señor?" "Muerto." "Hoy?" "Sí. This morning. Questo auroro. Aurora?" Italian again. Italy again, the Via Veneto, the peaches, the girls!

The only patient being treated by the writer is himself

I discovered the whitewashed wall beneath the window slick and syrupy with an abundance of goo. Since I didn't know what masturbation was, I of course didn't know what ejaculate was. I thought it was pus. I thought it was phlegm. I didn't know what to think, except that it was something terrible.

You know what's at the heart of the misery of a breakdown? Me-itis. Microcosmosis. Drowning in the tiny tub of yourself

In which estimate lies the greater reality—the uncharitable one permitted us before the funeral forced without any claptrap in the skirmish of daily life, or the one that suffuses us with sadness at the family gathering afterward—even an outsider can't judge.

The sight of a coffin going into the ground can effect a great change of heart—all at once you find you are not so disappointed in this person who is dead—but what the sight of a coffin does for the mind in its search for the truth, this I don't profess to know.

A ses yeux, celui qui donnait des signes extérieurs de bonté était bon, celui qui donnait des signes extérieurs de loyauté était loyal. Celui qui donnait des signes extérieurs d'intelligence, intelligent. C'est ainsi qu'il n'avait jamais vu clair en sa fille, ni en sa femme, ni en sa seule et unique maîtresse – il était sans doute loin de voir clair en lui...

had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible.

Respetar cuanto uno ha de respetar; no protestar por nada; no sufrir jamás la molestia de no tener confianza en sí mismo; no enredarse jamás en la obsesión ni ser torturado por la incapacidad, envenenado por el resentimiento, impulsado por la cólera…

Hard to determine from the way she tackled her tasks whether it was she who was serving necessity or necessity that was serving her.

The first man I've met since going to sea who doesn't bore me stiff.

Cruzaban por su mente los mismos pensamientos, inútiles para un hombre como él, sin gran talento, aunque no para Sófocles: lo accidental que es el sino, o lo accidental que todo puede parecer cuando es ineludible.

That people were manifold creatures didn't come as a surprise to the Swede, even if it was a bit of a shock to realize it anew when someone let you down. What was astonishing to him was how people seemed to run out of their own being, run out of whatever the stuff was that made them who they were and, drained of themselves, turn into the sort of people they would once have felt sorry for.

And how long will the American people stand for this treachery perpetrated by their elected president? How long will Americans remain asleep while their cherished Constitution is torn to shreds by the fascist fifth column of the Republican right marching under the sign of the cross and the flag?

obtaining a first-class education there in the commonplace libel that linked him inextricably to the crucifiers of Christ.

Maybe the best thing would be to forget being right or wrong about people and just go along for the ride. But if you can do that—well, lucky you.

You think if you worked for an Irish builder it would be better? Try it—go work for Shanley, you'll see what a lovely fellow he is. And the Italians, would they be better, you think? Steinheim shoots his mouth off—the Italians shoot guns." "And Longy Zwillman doesn't shoot guns?

Era bajita, tal vez mediría metro cincuenta y ocho, y se quitó el suéter y me mostró las tetas, revelando el torso adolescente de una virgen de Balthus incipientemente transgresora y, por supuesto, nos acostamos.

And who's next, Mr. and Mrs. America, now that the Bill of Rights is no longer the law of the land and the racial haters are running the show?

mi a helyes, mi az épelméj?, és ki vagyok én, hogy azt állíthassam, valaha is eleget tudtam ahhoz, hogy a helyeset lépjem?

One of the first rules of any marriage, (1) Don't forget the benefits of her (his) stupidity. (2) She (he) cannot be taught anything by you, so don't try.

How long will Americans remain asleep while their cherished Constitution is torn to shreds by the fascist fifth column of the Republican right marching under the sign of the cross and the flag?

3) Take a vacation from your grievances. (4) The regularity of it isn't totally worthless.