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He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive.

— Joseph Heller Catch-22 (1961)

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More quotes by Joseph Heller

When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, "Who has?"

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Quotations (1997)

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three.

Catch-22 (1961)

He could never decide whether to furgle them or photograph them, for he had found it impossible to do both simultaneously.

Catch-22 (1961)

Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

Catch-22 (1961)

Outside the hospital the war was still going on. Men went mad and were rewarded with medals.

Catch-22 (1961)

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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Joseph Heller (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.