Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer.

Quote by Norman Mailer

Topics: Norman Mailer Quotes

In America all too few blows are struck into flesh. We kill the spirit here,...

In America all too few blows are struck into flesh. We kill the spirit here,...

Alimony is the curse of the writing class.

Alimony is the curse of the writing class.

There are four stages in a marriage. First there's the affair, then the marriage, then...

There are four stages in a marriage. First there's the affair, then the marriage, then...

There was that law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow...

There was that law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow...

The difference between writing a book and being on television is the difference between conceiving...

The difference between writing a book and being on television is the difference between conceiving...

It's not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.

It's not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.

The horror of the Twentieth Century was the size of each new event, and the...

The horror of the Twentieth Century was the size of each new event, and the...

I had a quick grasp of the secret to sanity, it had become the ability...

I had a quick grasp of the secret to sanity, it had become the ability...

You don't know a woman until you have met her in court.

You don't know a woman until you have met her in court.

I hate everything which is not in myself.

I hate everything which is not in myself.

Sentimentality is the emotional promiscuity of those who have no sentiment.

Sentimentality is the emotional promiscuity of those who have no sentiment.

Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.

Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.

Growth, in some curious way, I suspect, depends on being always in motion just a...

Growth, in some curious way, I suspect, depends on being always in motion just a...

The final purpose of art is to intensify, even, if necessary, to exacerbate, the moral...

The final purpose of art is to intensify, even, if necessary, to exacerbate, the moral...

You don't know a women till you've met her in court.

You don't know a women till you've met her in court.

Chicago was a town where nobody could forget how the money was made. It was...

Chicago was a town where nobody could forget how the money was made. It was...

If a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to...

If a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to...

A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one...

A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one...

Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.

Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.

Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One...

Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One...