The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever.

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.

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...

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...

Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mere populism.

Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mere populism.

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.

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,...

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.

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...

I secretly understood: the primitive appeal of the hearth. Television is-its irresistible charm-a fire.

I secretly understood: the primitive appeal of the hearth. Television is-its irresistible charm-a fire.

Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have...

Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have...

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...

Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and get on with the jobs of life.

Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and get on with the jobs of life.

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 essential support and encouragement comes from within, arising out of the mad notion that...

The essential support and encouragement comes from within, arising out of the mad notion that...

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.

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...

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,...

New discoveries in science will continue to create a thousand new frontiers for those who...

New discoveries in science will continue to create a thousand new frontiers for those who...

A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously,...

A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously,...

When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having...

When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having...

The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a...

The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a...