To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough, from the standpoint of a stateless eunuch, but merely a provocative epigram for those who must make their arrangements in the world as given

Quote by John Updike

Topics: War Quotes, World Quotes

By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.

By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.

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.

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...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

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 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.

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.

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...

Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second...

Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second...

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

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...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

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...

We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great extent,...

We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great extent,...

For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what...

For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what...

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 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...

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

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

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist,...

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist,...

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.

All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, general clumsiness, are justified in the...

All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, general clumsiness, are justified in the...