For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what we must do, they are glowing signifiers of our own necessities.

Quote by John Updike

Topics: John Updike Quotes

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Natural beauty is essentially temporary and sad; hence the impression of obscene mockery which artificial...

Natural beauty is essentially temporary and sad; hence the impression of obscene mockery which artificial...

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would...

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would...

It was one of history's great love stories, the mutually profitable romance which Hollywood and...

It was one of history's great love stories, the mutually profitable romance which Hollywood and...

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.

School is where you go between when your parents can't take you, and industry can't...

School is where you go between when your parents can't take you, and industry can't...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring...

There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring...

That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and...

That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and...

Writers take words seriously-perhaps the last professional class that does-and they struggle to steer their...

Writers take words seriously-perhaps the last professional class that does-and they struggle to steer their...

Truth should not be forced; it should simply manifest itself, like a woman who has...

Truth should not be forced; it should simply manifest itself, like a woman who has...

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions,...

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions,...

The inner spaces that a good story lets us enter are the old apartments of...

The inner spaces that a good story lets us enter are the old apartments of...

Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the...

Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the...

From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the...

From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the...

From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the...

From infancy on, we are all spies; the shame is not this but that the...

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.

America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.

Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing...

Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing...

If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men,...

If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men,...