Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art.

Quote by John Updike

Topics: John Updike Quotes

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...

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...

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

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

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

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

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

A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself...

A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself...

I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone.

I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone.

Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.

Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.

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...

Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare...

Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare...

Many men are more faithful to their golf partners than to their wives and have...

Many men are more faithful to their golf partners than to their wives and have...

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

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

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them

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,...

By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.

By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

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,...

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...

Each morning my characters greet me with misty faces willing, though chilled, to muster for...

Each morning my characters greet me with misty faces willing, though chilled, to muster for...