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Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quotes

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Famous Saul Bellow Quotes

“And I said to myself that unless you conceive Death to be a violent guerrilla and kidnaper who snatches those you love, and if you are not cowardly and cannot submit to such terrorism as civilized people now do in every department of life, you must pursue and inquire and explore every possibility and seek everywhere and try everything.”

PeopleIfsTryingSaidPossibilityTerrorismViolentPursueDepartmentCivilizedSubmitCowardlyGuerrillasThose You Love
Book:Humboldt's Gift
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“I see that I've become a really bad correspondent. It's not that I don't think of you. You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the "warehouse of good intentions": "Can't do it now." "Then put it on hold." This is one's strategy for coping with old age, and with death--because one can't die with so many obligations in storage. Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.”

ThinkingEndsAgeDiesWeaknessLettersStrategyIntentionSpeciesCleverObligationOld AgeMy ThoughtsThink Of YouCopingGood IntentionsFertileStorageResourcefulWarehouse
Author:Saul Bellow
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“In the history of the world many souls have been, are, and will be, and with a little reflection this is marvelous and not depressing. Many jerks are made gloomy about it, for they think quantity buries them alive. That's just crazy. Numbers are very dangerous, but the main thing about them is that they humble your pride. And that's good.”

ThinkingWorldLittlesHas BeensMadeSoulNumbersAliveCrazyDangerousPrideReflectionHumbleQuantityDepressingMarvelousWorld HistoryJerkGloomy
Author:Saul Bellow
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“Brother raises a hand against brother and son against father (how terrible!) and the father also against son. And moreover it is a continuity-matter, for if the father did not strike the son, they would not be alike. It is done to perpetuate similarity. Oh, Henderson, man cannot keep still under the blows.... A hit B? B hit C?--we have not enough alphabet to cover the condition. A brave man will try to make the evil stop with him. He shall keep the blow. No man shall get it from him, and that is a sublime ambition.”

IfsMenTryingStillsMatterDoneEnoughHandsEvilFatherConditionsSonBrotherTerribleAmbitionRaisesBraveBlowStrikesSublimeContinuitySimilarityAlphabetBrave Man
Author:Saul Bellow
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“The physical body is an agent of the spirit and its mirror. It is an engine and a reflection of the spirit. It is the spirit's ingenious memorandum to itself and the spirit sees itself in my body, just as I see my own face in a looking glass. My nerves reflect this. The earth is literally a mirror of thoughts. Objects themselves are embodied thoughts. Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything.”

IfsNeedsBodyEarthFacesSpiritDarkMy OwnObjectsReflectionMirrorsGlassesAgentsNervesEnginesIngeniousPhysical BodyMemorandum
Book:Humboldt's Gift
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“Towards the end of your life you have something like a pain schedule to fill out - a long schedule like a federal document, only it's your pain schedule. Endless categories. First, physical causes - like arthritis, gallstones, menstrual cramps. New category, injured vanity, betrayal, swindle, injustice. But the hardest items of all have to do with love. The question then is: So why does everybody persist? If love cuts them up so much.”

IfsFirstsLongDoeEndsPainCausesCuttingInjusticeBetrayalEndlessHardestVanityCategoriesPersistDocumentsSchedulesItemsInjuredArthritisCrampsGallstones
Author:Saul Bellow
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