A collection of short stories is generally thought to be a horrendous clinker; an enforced courtesy for the elderly writer who wants to display the trophies of his youth, along with his trout flies.

Quote by John Cheever

Topics: History Quotes, Writers Quotes

The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and...

The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and...

I sometimes go back to walk through the ghostly remains of Sutton Place where the...

I sometimes go back to walk through the ghostly remains of Sutton Place where the...

Art is the triumph over chaos.

Art is the triumph over chaos.

The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman...

The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman...

For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain and the...

For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain and the...

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the...

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the...

People look for morals in fiction because there has always been a confusion between fiction...

People look for morals in fiction because there has always been a confusion between fiction...

A lonely man is a lonesome thing, a stone, a bone, a stick, a receptacle...

A lonely man is a lonesome thing, a stone, a bone, a stick, a receptacle...

Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed...

Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed...

Homesickness is nothing Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the...

Homesickness is nothing Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the...

What I am going to write is the last of what I have to say....

What I am going to write is the last of what I have to say....

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose...

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose...

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

When I remember my family, I always remember their backs. They were always indignantly leaving...

When I remember my family, I always remember their backs. They were always indignantly leaving...

That's the way I remember them, heading for an exit.

That's the way I remember them, heading for an exit.

I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you can't do...

I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you can't do...

The deep joy we take in the company of people with whom we have just...

The deep joy we take in the company of people with whom we have just...

Fiction is experimentation; when it ceases to be that, it ceases to be fiction.

Fiction is experimentation; when it ceases to be that, it ceases to be fiction.

Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house.

Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house.

All literary men are Red Sox fans - to be a Yankee fan in a...

All literary men are Red Sox fans - to be a Yankee fan in a...