John Updike Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“The essential support and encouragement comes from within, arising out of the mad notion that your society needs to know what only you can tell it.”

“Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.”

“I seem most instinctively to believe in the human value of creative writing, whether in the form of verse or fiction, as a mode of truth-telling, self-expression and homage to the twin miracles of creation and consciousness.”

“American art in general... takes to surreal exaggerations and metaphors; but its Puritan work ethic has little use for the playful self-indulgence behind Parisian Surrealism.”

“Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.”

“Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.”

“To be President of the United States, sir, is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client.”

“Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.”

“We do survive every moment, after all, except the last one.”

“An affair wants to spill, to share its glory with the world. No act is so private it does not seek applause.”