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.

United States
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Random Richard Yates quote

51 quotes

Emily took her to a cool, decent coffee shop and for an hour or two they talked in circles.

Then she asked me if I wanted to know something, and without waiting to find out whether I did or not, she told me.

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

Most people do the best they can.

The Easter Parade (1976)

But late that night, as Irving Berlin himself might say, something kind of wonderful happened. I took that little bastard of a story and I built the hell out of it.

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

She too was a divorced mother, though her former husband had vanished long ago and was referred to only as "that bastard" or "that cowardly son of a bitch".

Liars in Love (1981)

He seemed decent and kindly enough, but Prentice was cautioned by an old and trusted rule of his schooldays: Beware of the first friendly one; he's probably an outcast himself.

A Special Providence (1969)

exchanging agreeable remarks for no other purpose than to keep silence from closing in.

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

there is an automatic pleasure in watching a thing done well.

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

and for an hour or two they talked in circles.

The Easter Parade (1976)

Then they came out, Finney wearing the foolish smile you sometimes see in the crowds that gape at street accidents

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1962)

if self-deception was an illness she was well into its advanced stages.

Liars in Love (1981)

And he was afraid she might be taking this much too seriously, so he reached out to stroke or tousle her hair, but that didn't work because she'd just been to the hairdresser and didn't want to get it messed up.

Cold Spring Harbor (1986)

And from this distance they all did look like kids - boys and girls from far and wide with their cheap hand luggage and their Army duffel bags, brave entertainers who might travel for years before it occurred to them, or to most of them, that they weren't going anywhere.

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

..."a man doesn't spend all these years building something and then kick it to pieces. Don't - well, to put it coarsely, don't shit where you eat."

Disturbing the Peace (1975)

(and when would she ever learn not to monopolize a whole evening's conversation?)

A Special Providence (1969)

"You don't have much use for black people, do you, Mr Wilder? Deep down you wish we'd all go away. You think our lips are too thick and our noses too flat and you shudder at the thought of our kinky hair. Isn't that about right, Mr Wilder?"

Disturbing the Peace (1975)

"As my husband always used to say, who cares?"
"A lot of people care, Ann."
"Well, that's a nice thought, but try counting them up on your fingers. Name me four. Name me three."

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

"But this isn't a lecture course. The only way any of us can learn this craft is by saturating ourselves in examples of it, in and out of print, and then trying to put the best of what we've found into our own work."

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

After a while he stopped listening. His ears took in only the rise and fall of her voice, the elaborate, familiar, endless rhythm of it; but from long experience he was able to say "Oh yes" or "Of course," in all the right places.

A Special Providence (1969)

"All I'm trying to say is that I'm afraid I got a kind of who-cares feeling out of this. Very strong writing, fine writing; still, the material kept making me think, Yeah, yeah, I get it, but who cares?"

Young Hearts Crying (1984)

Attribution

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