Philip Roth Quotes & Sayings

“Sheer Playfulness and Deadly Seriousness are my closest friends.”

“People are unjust to anger - it can be enlivening and a lot of fun.”

“Is an intelligent human being likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?”

“Literature isn't a moral beauty contest. Its power arises from the authority and audacity with which the impersonation is pulled off; the belief it inspires is what counts.”

“History... is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

“Fear tends to manifest itself much more quickly than greed, so volatile markets tend to be on the downside. In up markets, volatility tends to gradually decline.”

“Obviously the facts are never just coming at you but are incorporated by an imagination that is formed by your previous experience. Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts.”

“A Jewish man with parents alive is a fifteen-year-old boy, and will remain a fifteen-year-old boy until they die!”

“A writer has to be driven crazy to help him to see. A writer needs his poisons.”

“Nothing keeps its promise.”