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As Jules Renard said, no matter how much care an author takes to write as few books as possible, there will be people who haven’t heard of some of them.

— Donald Barthelme Flying to America: 45 More Stories (2007)

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More quotes by Donald Barthelme

Who among us is not thinking about divorce, except for a few tiny-minded stick-in-the-muds who don’t count?

The Teachings of Don. B: Satires, Parodies, Fables, Illustrated Stories, and Plays of Donald Barthelme (1992)

Instant gratification is not as good as that gratification which comes dripping slow, over the sere seasons.

Flying to America: 45 More Stories (2007)

Oh, there is nothing better than intelligent conversation except thrashing about in bed with a naked girl and Egmont Light Italic.

Come Back, Dr. Caligari (1964)

Self-criticism sessions were held, but these produced more criticism than could usefully be absorbed or accomodated.

Great Days (1979)

The present goal of the individual in group enterprises is to avoid dominance; leadership is felt to be a character disorder.

Great Days (1979)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

Albert Pike Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871)

There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

Attribution

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