27 quotes
The last time you were happy about nothing; the first time you were afraid about nothing. Which came first? (chapter 12)
After leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1931)
I like emotion, I approve of it-in fact am capable of wallowing in it. (1946)
One of those cold, heavy days in spring - a hard sky with a glare behind the cloud, all the new green of the trees hanging still and sullen. (beginning of "The Grey Day")
The Left Bank & Other Stories (1927)
'They touch life with gloves on. They're pretending about something all the time. Pretending quite nice and decent things, of course. But still...'
'Everybody pretends,' Marya was thinking...
Postures or Quartet (1929)
'Mein Lieb, Mon Cher, My Dear, Amigo,' the letter began (beginning of the story "Tigers Are Better-looking")
Tigers are Better-Looking (1968)
She seemed to be contemplating a future at once monotonous and insecure with an indifference which was after all a sort of hard-won courage. (chapter 3)
After leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1931)
The things you remember have no form. When you write about them, you have to give them a beginning, a middle, and an end. To give life shape—that is what a writer does. That is what is so difficult.
Interview with The Paris Review (1979)