Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.

Quote by John Updike

Topics: John Updike Quotes

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough,...

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough,...

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 city overwhelmed our expectations. The Kiplingesque grandeur of Waterloo Station, the Eliotic despondency of...

The city overwhelmed our expectations. The Kiplingesque grandeur of Waterloo Station, the Eliotic despondency of...

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...

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Four years was enough of Harvard. I still had a lot to learn, but had...

Four years was enough of Harvard. I still had a lot to learn, but had...

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.

Americans have been conditioned to respect newness, whatever it costs them.

Americans have been conditioned to respect newness, whatever it costs them.

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own...

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own...

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

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

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

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...

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...

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...

A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have...

A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have...

The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.

The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.

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.

Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves

Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves

The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men...

The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men...