“I felt if I went chronologically, I'd get bogged down in childhood and that's part of our culture of complaint in America. This endless wailing about your childhood.” IfsAmericaCultureFeltChildhoodOur ChildrenEndlessYour ChildrenComplaintsWailing Author:Edmund White
“Perhaps I became so vague, so exhilarated with vagueness, precisely in order to forestall a recognition of the final term of the syllogism that begins: If one man loves another he is a homosexual; I love a man.” IfsMenOrderTermFinalsRecognitionOne ManVagueHomosexualVagueness Book:A Boy's Own Story: Picador Classic Source: A Boy's Own Story: Picador Classic
“I'm an atheist, I always thought, 'This is it.' If there is going to be a heaven, it should be on earth. I feel much happier than most people. I'm fairly stoic about death, but I'm not keen on dying if it's going to be long and protracted. I don't have dark nights of the soul, except occasionally. I'm such a little busy bee.” PeopleIfsFeelsShouldLittlesLongSoulEarthNightHeavenDarkDyingBusyAtheistBeesStoicDark NightDark Night Of The SoulBusy Bee Author:Edmund White
“Energy in itself is a sort of redemption. No wonder we admire Satan. But if the Devil were listless, if he were a pale man in his underwear who watched television by day behind closed venetian blinds - oh if that were the devil I would fear him.” IfsMenEnergyBehindsWonderTelevisionDevilAdmireRedemptionSatanPaleUnderwear Book:A Boy's Own Story: Picador Classic Source: A Boy's Own Story: Picador Classic
“There was something stubborn in me that didn't want to lose weight to attract a man. If the right man came along, he'd be able to see my virtues magically. Once he kissed me, the frog would turn into a prince. I had become a trick question, a heavy disguise, but behind the disobliging exterior was the welcoming child I would always be. Of course, what I'd forgotten was that he was not Parsifal and I was not the Grail; the medievalism of my imagination was not sufficiently up-to-date to recognize that the lover was a shopper and I a product.” IfsMenWantChildrenAbleTurnsCoursesLosesImaginationBehindsVirtueProductsLoversWeightForgottenHeavyTricksWelcomeDisguiseStubbornMy ImaginationFrogsExteriorLose WeightUp To DateRight ManShoppers Author:Edmund White
“Paris... is a world meant for the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail.” IfsWorldRichDetailsParisPaceStrollingWalkers Book:The Flaneur Source: The Flaneur
“If I take a less defensive tone, I'd admit that I couldn't write today a very jazzy, contemporary look at America as I did in 1979 in States of Desire.” IfsWritingLooksStatesTodayAmericaDesireContemporaryTone Author:Edmund White
