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

Quote by John Cheever

Topics: John Cheever Quotes

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.

Art is the triumph over chaos.

Art is the triumph over chaos.

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...

Good writers are often excellent at a hundred other things, but writing promises a greater...

Good writers are often excellent at a hundred other things, but writing promises a greater...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

Apothegms are portable wisdom, the quintessential extracts of thought and feelings.

Apothegms are portable wisdom, the quintessential extracts of thought and feelings.

I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean.

I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean.

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.