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James Salter

James Salter Quotes

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Famous James Salter Quotes

“I don't fear death. I'm not obsessed with it the way everybody else seems to be. It's wrong to say "everybody," but in literature I see it all the time - preoccupation with it, philosophical preoccupation, in fact. That's a principle element of literature and philosophy, often cited as the main element, the only real element. I say give it up.”

WayGivingRealPhilosophyFactsSeemsLiteraturePrinciplesElementsPhilosophicalObsessedFear Of DeathPreoccupation
Author:James Salter
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“I'm tired of my life, my clothes, the things I say. I'm hacking away at the surface, as at some kind of gray ice, trying to break through to what is underneath or I am dead. I can feel the surface trembling—it seems ready to give but it never does. I am uninterested in current events. How can I justify this? How can I explain it? I don't want to have the same vocabulary I've always had. I want something richer, broader, more penetrating and powerful.”

WantGivingFeelsTryingKindDoeI CanSeemsPowerfulBreakEventsReadyClothesTiredCurrentsSurfaceIceJustifyGrayVocabularyWant SomethingTremblingI'm TiredBreak ThroughHackingCurrent EventsUninterested
Book:Memorable Days: The Selected Letters of James Salter and Robert Phelps
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