Quotes from Saul Bellow

In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness. But the pursuit of sanity can be a form of madness, too

A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him.

With one long breath, caught and held in his chest, he fought his sadness over his solitary life. Don't cry, you idiot! Live or die, but don't poison everything...

I want to tell you, don't marry suffering. Some people do. They get married to it, and sleep and eat together, just as husband and wife. If they go with joy they think it's adultery.

I am a phoenix who runs after arsonists.

People don't realize how much they are in the grip of ideas. We live among ideas much more than we live in nature.

I love solitude but I prize it most when company is available.

Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.

I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, "To hell with you.

If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.

I am a true adorer of life, and if I can't reach as high as the face of it, I plant my kiss somewhere lower down. Those who understand will require no further explanation.

She was what we used to call a suicide blonde-- dyed by her own hand.

Myself is thus and so, and will continue thus and so. And why fight it? My balance comes from instability.

You have to fight for your life. That's the chief condition on which you hold it.

It's usually the selfish people who are loved the most. They do what you deny yourself, and you love them for it. You give them your heart.

A good novel is worth more than the best scientific study.

We are funny creatures. We don't see the stars as they are, so why do we love them? They are not small gold objects, but endless fire.

I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.

I want to tell you, don't marry suffering. Some people do. They get married to it, and sleep and eat together, just as husband and wife. If they go with joy they think it's adultery.

Alternatives, and particularly desirable alternatives, grow only on imaginary trees.

In expressing love we belong among the undeveloped countries.

It's goodbye to reality when love sets in.

I love solitude, but I prize it most when plenty of company is available.