John Cheever Quotes

A collection of quotes by John Cheever.

John Cheever (1912-1982) was an acclaimed American novelist and short-story writer. Born on May 27, 1912, in Quincy, Massachusetts, Cheever displayed an early talent for storytelling and began writing at a young age. He attended Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, and later studied at Thayer Library in South Braintree. Cheever went on to attend Quincy High School, where he excelled academically.

Following high school, Cheever received a scholarship to study at Thayer Academy and later attended and graduated from Quincy High School in 1930. He briefly enrolled in a pre-medical program at Quincy Junior College but dropped out due to financial constraints and personal struggles with alcoholism.

Throughout the 1930s, Cheever worked various jobs, including as a journalist, screenwriter, and typist, while continuing his writing pursuits. In 1941, he published his first short story, "Expelled," in The New Republic, marking the beginning of his recognized literary career.

Cheever gained prominence in the 1950s and 1960s for his skillful portrayal of post-war American suburban life. His works explored themes of dissatisfaction, alienation, and the emptiness often lurking beneath the surface of seemingly idyllic suburban existence. Notable works include his novels "The Wapshot Chronicle" (1957) and "Falconer" (1977), as well as his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories, "The Stories of John Cheever" (1978).

Despite battling alcoholism and personal demons throughout his life, John Cheever left an indelible mark on American literature with his honest and insightful portrayals of human nature. He died on June 18, 1982, in Ossining, New York, leaving behind a rich body of work that continues to be celebrated today.

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the st

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.

Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos to celebrat

Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos to celebrate a world that lies spread out around us like a bewildering and stupendous dream.

Books Inspirational Fiction On Fiction Writing

The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's

The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and discover one's usefulness.

For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain and

For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain and the noise of battle. It has the power to give grief or universality that lends it a youthful beauty.

Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your

Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house.

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength t

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.

I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss -

I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you can't do it alone.

In this busy world, we should never be a stranger to love an

In this busy world, we should never be a stranger to love and compassion. It is the fertile soil in the garden of peace.

Homesickness is nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the

Homesickness is nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time.

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgiv

The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony.

Authors & Writing

A lonely man is a lonesome thing, a stone, a bone, a stick,

A lonely man is a lonesome thing, a stone, a bone, a stick, a receptacle for Gilbey's gin, a stooped figure sitting at the edge of a hotel bed, heaving copious sighs like the autumn wind.

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil -- not the

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil -- not the strength to choose between the two.

We praise Him, we bless Him, we adore Him, we glorify Him, a

We praise Him, we bless Him, we adore Him, we glorify Him, and we wonder who is that baritone across the aisle and that pretty woman on our right who smells of apple blossoms. Our bowels stir and our cod itches and we amend our prayers for the spiritual life with the hope that it will not be too spiritual.

My veins are filled, once a week with a Neapolitan carpet cl

My veins are filled, once a week with a Neapolitan carpet cleaner distilled from the Adriatic and I am as bald as an egg. However I still get around and am mean to cats.

Strange and predatory and truly dangerous, car thieves and m

Strange and predatory and truly dangerous, car thieves and muggers -- they seem to jeopardize all our cherished concepts, even our self-esteem, our property rights, our powers of love, our laws and pleasures. The only relationship we seem to have with them is scorn or bewilderment, but they belong somewhere on the dark prairies of a country that is in the throes of self-discovery.

The organizations of men, like men themselves, seem subject

The organizations of men, like men themselves, seem subject to deafness, near-sightedness, lameness, and involuntary cruelty. We seem tragically unable to help one another, to understand one another.

People named John and Mary never divorce. For better or for

People named John and Mary never divorce. For better or for worse, in madness and in saneness, they seem bound together for eternity by their rudimentary nomenclature. They may loathe and despise one another, quarrel, weep, and commit mayhem, but they are not free to divorce. Tom, Dick, and Harry can go to Reno on a whim, but nothing short of death can separate John and Mary.

I do not understand the capricious lewdness of the sleeping

I do not understand the capricious lewdness of the sleeping mind.

All literary men are Red Sox fans - to be a Yankee fan in a

All literary men are Red Sox fans - to be a Yankee fan in a literate society is to endanger your life.