Quotes from Daniel Keyes

I'm not close to him." He looked at me defiantly. "But he's put his whole life into this. He's no Freud or Jung or Pavlov or Watson, but he's doing something important and I respect his dedication - maybe even more because he's just an ordinary man trying to do a great man's work, while the great men are all busy making bombs.

Im like a man whos been half-asleep all his life, trying to find out what he was like before he woke up.

No one really starts anything new, Mrs. Nemur. Everyone builds on other men's failures. There is nothing really original in science. What each man contributes to the sum of knowledge is what counts.

And now - Plato's words mock me in the shadows on the ledge behind the flames: '...the men of the cave would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes.

Thank God for books and music and things I can think about." --Charlie Gordan

Intelligence and education that hasn't been tempered by human affection isn't worth a damn.

Why am I always looking at life through a window?

I love the fact that 'Flowers for Algernon' is doing its part to get people reading.

I can't afford to spend my time with anyone - there's only enough left for myself

Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. That hurts the most.

My father was in the paper recycling business back before they called it recycling.

If your smart you can have lots of frends to talk to and you never get lonley by yourself all the time.

I may not have all the time I thought I had.

Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men." --Charlie Gordan

I thought: 'My education is driving a wedge between me and the people I love.' And then I wondered: 'What would happen if it were possible to increase a person's intelligence?'

Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men.

And now - Plato's words mock me in the shadows on the ledge behind the flames: '...the men of the cave would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes.

Intelligence is one of the greatest human gifts. But all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love... Intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection leads to mental and moral breakdown, to neurosis, and possibly even psychosis.

The universe was exploding, each particle away from the next, hurtling us into dark and lonely space, eternally tearing us away from each other - child out of the womb, friend away from friend, moving from each other, each through his own pathway towards the goal-box of solitary death.

The answer can't be found in books - or be solved by bringing it to other people. Not unless you want to remain a child all your life. You've got to find the answer inside you - feel the right thing to do. Charlie, you've got to learn to trust yourself

The only question now is: How much can I hang on to?

I can't afford to spend my time with anyone - there's only enough left for myself

I see now that when Norma flowered in our garden I became a weed, allowed to exist only where I would not be seen, in corners and dark places.

I'm like a man who's been half-asleep all his life, trying to find out what he was like before he woke up.