Saul Bellow

intelligence invest ignorance illusion deep

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

live die poison

“Live or die, but don't poison everything.”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

funny creature love stars endless fire

“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.”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

advice accomplice

“When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

second half life recover mistake first

“You can spend the entire second half of your life recovering from the mistakes of the first half.”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

readiness answer question stupidity

“Readiness to answer all questions is the infallible sign of stupidity.”

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

memory wolf insignificance door memories

"Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

community class dangerous people lesder power

"In every community there is a class of people profoundly dangerous to the rest. I don't mean the criminals. For them we have punitive sanctions. I mean the leaders. Invariably the most dangerous people seek the power. While in the parlors of indignation the right-thinking citizen brings his heart to a boil."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

distant goal small steps

"Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

age madness untouch sanity

"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"

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

open discussion public question taboo racist facist imperialist

"Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo. We can't open our mouths without being denounced as racists, misogynists, supremacists, imperialists or fascists. As for the media, they stand ready to trash anyone so designated."

change write night

"You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

nonpeculiar people

"It seems, after all that there are no nonpeculiar people."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

decadent Rome amusement society writer court jester

"Our society, like decadent Rome, has turned into an amusement society, with writers chief among the court jesters."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

grip ideas live nature

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

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

citizen human life business

"The life of every citizen is becoming a business. This, it seems to me, is one of the worst interpretations of the meaning of human life history has ever seen. Man's life is not a business."

― Saul Bellow (1915-2005)