Richard Yates Quotes

1926–1992 United States

Richard Yates (February 3, 1926 – November 7, 1992) was an American fiction writer. His first novel, "Revolutionary Road" (1961), was a finalist for the 1962 National Book Award and is listed in Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels.

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Random Richard Yates quote

51 quotes

It seemed only a few minutes later that he woke with a sense that the world was coming apart.

Disturbing the Peace (1975)

One advantage of the very low lighting in this room, he'd decided, was that it could make almost any girl look like a million dollars.

Cold Spring Harbor (1986)

Could a person really be cynical about everything in the world and still expect to have friends?

A Good School (1978)

"Try to remember this, men. The mark of a professional in any line of work - I mean any line of work - is that he can make difficult things look easy."

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

Sumbitch wasn't even needed, that's the funny part; just some eager-beaver bastard couldn't mind his own business.

A Special Providence (1969)

"When you're talking, Steve, the important thing is knowing when to stop. Never say anything that doesn't improve on silence."

Sometimes the world was just too fucking much.

Cold Spring Harbor (1986)

There was no readiness for soldiering in this truck, no stern and cocky welcoming of challenges. They sounded - oh, Mother of God - they sounded like children.

A Good School (1978)

And she was halfway up the stairs before he decided that his best reply was to make no reply at all.

Liars in Love (1981)

That had the sound of a good exit line, so she went quickly into her room and slammed the door.

A Special Providence (1969)

Her face, in the spattered mirror, was a shocked and wild-eyed ruin.

A Special Providence (1969)

After a second or two he thrust the muzzle forward and broke out the pane of glass, less because he knew it would make for a better aim than because it was what gunmen always did behind windows in movies.

A Special Providence (1969)

Like frustrated suburban wives we fed on each other's discontent; we became divided into mean little cliques and subdivided into jealously shifting pairs of buddies, and we pieced out our idleness with gossip.

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

"I think you'll find ordinary people are nicer than you give them credit for being"

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

"I expect you'll miss your friends."
"I don't really have any friends; not real ones. Anyway, we'll make new friends."

A Special Providence (1969)

"Of course. And isn't that the worst kind of loss? When you don't even realise the value of something until you've thrown it away?"

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

"Well, she's - sweet," he told her. "She's very sweet, and I guess that's part of the trouble. She's like a little girl - is a little girl.

Cold Spring Harbor (1986)

Being told he was right was always a tonic to Ken

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

It occurred to Jack that if he held the phone well away from his head Sally's voice would dwindle and flatten out and be lost in tinny gibberish, like the voice of an idiot midget.

Liars in Love (1981)

Why couldn't she stop talking? Did all lonely people have that problem?

A Special Providence (1969)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Richard Yates (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.