Saul Bellow Quotes

A collection of quotes by Saul Bellow.

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a renowned American writer and Nobel laureate, considered one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. He was born in Canada but later became a naturalized American citizen. Bellow's writing explored themes of identity, morality, and the human condition.

Bellow's career took off with the publication of his first novel, "Dangling Man" in 1944, followed by "The Victim" in 1947. However, it was his novel "The Adventures of Augie March" (1953) that brought him widespread critical acclaim and established his reputation as a major literary force.

Throughout his prolific career, Bellow penned many memorable works, including "Herzog" (1964), which won him the National Book Award, and "Humboldt's Gift" (1975), which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He also received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976 for his "human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture."

Bellow's writing style is characterized by his use of vivid language, philosophical musings, and introspective characters. He often drew inspiration from his own experiences and Jewish heritage, exploring themes of alienation, personal quests, and the complexities of modern existence.

Saul Bellow's contributions to American literature continue to be celebrated, influencing subsequent generations of writers and earning him a lasting place among the literary giants of his time.

Once you had read the Psychopathology of Everyday Life, you

Once you had read the Psychopathology of Everyday Life, you knew that everyday life was psychopathology.

Life

In expressing love we belong among the undeveloped countries

In expressing love we belong among the undeveloped countries.

Love

There is an immense, painful longing for a broader, more fle

There is an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for.

Life

The fact that there are so many weak, poor and boring storie

The fact that there are so many weak, poor and boring stories and novels written and published in America has been ascribed by our rebels to the horrible squareness of our institutions, the idiocy of power, the debasement of sexual instincts, and the failure of writers to be alienated enough. The poems and novels of these same rebellious spirits, and their theoretical statements, are grimy and gritty and very boring too, besides being nonsensical, and it is evident by now that polymorphous sexuality and vehement declarations of alienation are not going to produce great works of art either.

Poetry

Psychoanalysis pretends to investigate the Unconscious. The

Psychoanalysis pretends to investigate the Unconscious. The Unconscious by definition is what you are not conscious of. But the Analysts already know what's in it -- they should, because they put it all in beforehand.

Psychiatry

All a writer has to do to get a woman is to say he's a write

All a writer has to do to get a woman is to say he's a writer. It's an aphrodisiac.

Authors & Writing

Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppress

Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppression; if you hold down one thing, you hold down the adjoining.

Oppression

Any artist should be grateful for a na?ve grace which puts h

Any artist should be grateful for a na?ve grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately.

Art

As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the convict

As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting -- the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. The humanities would be called upon to choose a wallpaper for the crypt, as the end drew near.

Art

Goodness is achieved not in a vacuum, but in the company of

Goodness is achieved not in a vacuum, but in the company of other men, attended by love.

Goodness

There are evils that have the ability to survive identificat

There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.

Evil

What is art but a way of seeing?

What is art but a way of seeing?

Art

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance wh

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

Great

A man is only as good as what he loves.

A man is only as good as what he loves.

Good

I think that New York is not the cultural centre of America,

I think that New York is not the cultural centre of America, but the business and administrative centre of American culture.

Business