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Quote by Norman Mailer

“What were the phenomena of the world today? If I knew little else, I knew the answer - war, and the preparations for new war.”

Quote by Norman Mailer

Author

Norman Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, and essayist renowned for his daring and innovative writing. His works frequently examined the human condition, focusing on the roles of power and violence in society. Mailer's most celebrated novel, 'The Naked and the Dead', was published in 1948 and is regarded as a classic of American literature. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel 'The Armies of the Night' in 1968. Mailer's writing style was marked by its vivid descriptions and his readiness to address controversial subjects. more

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“We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in the stadium; they are a host of chemical machines who swallow the product of chemical factories, aspirin, preservatives, stimulant, relaxant, and breathe out their chemical wastes into a polluted air. The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.”

Source: Cannibals and Christians

“Love was love, one could find it with anyone, one could find it anywhere. It was just that you could never keep it. Not unless you were ready to die for it.”

Dies Ready Ready To Die

Book:Conversations with Norman Mailer

Source: Conversations with Norman Mailer

“On a late-winter evening in 1983, while driving through fog along the Maine coast, recollections of old campfires began to drift into the March mist, and I thought of the Abnaki Indians of the Algonquin tribe who dwelt near Bangor a thousand years ago.”

Years Thousand Late Years Ago Winter Driving Evening March Thousand Years Tribes Coast Fog Mist Recollection Maine Campfire Algonquins

Book:Harlot's Ghost: A Novel

Source: Harlot's Ghost: A Novel

“To make an Army work you have to have every man in it fitted into a fear ladder... The Army functions best when you're frightened of the man above you, and contemptuous of your subordinates.”

Men He Man Function Army Every Man Frightened Ladders Subordinates Contemptuous

Book:The Naked and the Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition, With a New Introduction by the Author

Source: The Naked and the Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition, With a New Introduction by the Author

“When the wind carries a cry which is meaningful to human ears, it is simpler to believe the wind shares with us some part of the emotion of Being than that the mysteries of a hurricane's rising murmur reduce to no more than the random collision of insensate molecules.”

Believe Humans Emotion Mystery Share Cry Wind Ears Meaningful Rising Carrie Hurricanes Molecules Collision

Book:Advertisements for Myself

Source: Advertisements for Myself

“I met Jack Kennedy in November, 1946... We went out on a double date and it turned out to be a fair evening for me. I seduced a girl who would have been bored by a diamond as big as the Ritz.”

Has Beens Bigs Girl Mets Fairs Evening Bored Diamond November Ritz Jack Kennedy

Author:Norman Mailer

“I was now at a university in New York, a professor of existential psychology with the not inconsiderable thesis that magic, dread, and the perception of death were the roots of motivation.”

Motivation Psychology Magic New York Perception Roots University Professors Dread Existential Thesis

Book:An American Dream: A Novel

Source: An American Dream: A Novel

“Lord, for the erring thoughtNot into evil wrought:Lord, for the wicked willBetrayed and baffled still:For the heart from itself kept,Our thanksgiving accept.”

Heart Stills Evil Accepting Lord Wicked Thanksgiving Baffled Erring

Author:William Dean Howells

“See how today's achievement is only tomorrow's confusion;See how possession always cheapens the thing that was precious.”

Today Tomorrow Achievement Possession Confusion

Book:Delphi Complete Works of William Dean Howells (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of William Dean Howells (Illustrated)

“The wrecks of slavery are fast growing a fungus crop of sentiment.”

Growing Slavery Sentiments Crops Wrecks Fungi

Book:Their Wedding Journey

Source: Their Wedding Journey