Home / Quotes / Quote by John Updike

Quote by John Updike

“So, you know, I think any life has in it enough material, enough points of departure, to fuel a writer's career and that we shouldn't worry about what we're not but to try to focus on what we are and what we do know.”

Quote by John Updike

Book:Conversations with John Updike

Work

Conversations with John Updike

This book features in-depth conversations with John Updike, exploring his writing process, literary inspirations, and personal reflections on his career. more

Author

John Updike was an American novelist known for his profound insights into middle-class life and his delicate narrative skills. His works spanned a wide range of genres from short stories to novels, including the classic 'Rabbit, Run' series and 'The Centaur'. more

You May Also Like

“I think people do look to writers to tell the truth in a way that nobody else quite will, not politicians or ministers or sociologists. A writer's job, is to, by way of fiction, somehow describe the way we live. And to me, this seems an important task, very worth doing, and I think also, to the reading public, it seems, even though they might not articulate it, it seems to them something worth doing also.”

People Thinking Way Looks Important Seems Might Jobs Reading Fiction Politician Tasks Ministers Telling The Truth Sociologists

Author:John Updike

“Seemed to me important in writing about people to be able to describe the sexual transactions between them. It's - for many people it's the height of, what they see, of ecstasy and poetry is in their sexual encounters. And furthermore, personality - human personality does not end in the bedroom, but persists.”

People Writing Humans Doe Important Ends Able Personality Height Encounters Poetry Is Ecstasy Bedroom Persist Transactions Human Personality

Author:John Updike

“The - writing is a kind of act of aggression, and a person who is not aggressive in his normal, may I say, intercourse with humanity might well be an aggressive writer.”

Writing Wells Kind May Persons Might Humanity Normal Aggressive Aggression Intercourse

Author:John Updike

“I didn't consider myself a huge baby person. I`m not like, "Oh my god! I want to hold every baby!" And some women just have that engraved in their minds.”

Want Mind Persons Huge Baby Engraved

Author:Rachel Dratch

“It's interesting that people always want to ask me and a lot of working mothers, how do you do it? And it's like well, just like everybody else. It proves it's a bad question.”

People Want Wells Mother Asks Interesting Prove Ask Me Prove It

Author:Amy Poehler

“You have moments of clarity, things become clear to you that you didn't understand before. But there's never any making ends meet or finding any time of longstanding peace of mind about something.”

Mind Ends Moments Clear Findings Clarity Peace Of Mind Moments Of Clarity

Author:Bruce Springsteen

“Sometimes I do an automatic songs, songs that you don't really think about, or work on. You just look back and it sorta surprises you.”

Thinking Looks Sometimes Song Surprise

Author:Bruce Springsteen

“I'm the kind of person, I think a lot about everything. Nothin' I can do about it. It's like, I'm a thinkin' fool. That's a big part of me.”

Thinking Kind Persons I Can Bigs Can Do Fool

Author:Bruce Springsteen

“I can get onstage and cut that off and be superinstinctive. To be a good live performer, you have to be instinctive. It's like, to walk in the jungle, or to do anything where there's a certain tightrope wire aspect you need to be instinctive. And you have to be comfortable at it also.”

Needs I Can Certain Walks Cutting Comfortable Aspect Performers Jungle Wire

Author:Bruce Springsteen

“I couldn't worry about whether I`m gonna make it onstage or not. You can't. You just gotta do it. And if you do, you do, and if you don't, you don't, and then something else happens. That's the point of the live performance.”

Ifs Happens Worry Performances Live Performance

Author:Bruce Springsteen