Hemingway described literary new york as a bottle full of tapeworms trying to feed on each other. — John Updike
I would rather have as my patron a host of anonymous citizens digging into their own pockets — John Updike
The artist brings something into the world that didn’t exist before and he does it without — John Updike
Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or doing it better. — John Updike
Life is like an overlong drama through which we sit being nagged by the vague memories of having read the reviews. — John Updike
Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea. — John Updike
Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare to go it alone. — John Updike
Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. — John Updike
The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever. — John Updike
The founding fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents. — John Updike
When I write, I aim in my mind not toward new york but toward a vague spot a little to the east of kansas. — John Updike
A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people’s patience. — John Updike
The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions. — John Updike