black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.

J. D. Salinger

We are, all four of us, blood relatives, and we speak a kind of esoteric, family language, a sort of semantic geometry in which the shortest distance between any two points is a fullish circle.
J. D. SALINGER

Distance Family Kind Language Relationship Talk
He said you were the only one who was bitter about S’s suicide and the only one who really forgave him for it. The rest of us, he said, were outwardly unbitter and inwardly unforgiving.
J. D. SALINGER

Death Forgiveness Himself Kindness
I mean they don’t seem able to love us just the way we are. They don’t seem able to love us unless they can keep changing us a little bit. They love their reasons for loving us almost as much as they love us, and most of the time more.
J. D. SALINGER

Change Love Myself Reason Time
And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I’d probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.
J. D. SALINGER

Laugh Myself Stupidity
I love to write and I assure you I write regularly. But I write for myself, for my own pleasure. And I want to be left alone to do it.
J. D. SALINGER

Alone Happiness Love Myself Writing
An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.
J. D. SALINGER

Art Kind Perfection
That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any.
J. D. SALINGER

Peace Place Yourself
Why’s it so sunny? she repeated. Zooey observed her rather narrowly. I bring the sun wherever I go, buddy, he said.
J. D. SALINGER

Herself Sun
She was not one for emptying her face of expression.
J. D. SALINGER

Empty Expression Face Herself
I hate actors. They never act like people. They just think they do.
J. D. SALINGER

Act Hate Myself People Thinking
I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.
J. D. SALINGER

Courage Myself Sickness
Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.
J. D. SALINGER

Missing Start Yourself
I’ll read my books and I’ll drink coffee and I’ll listen to music, and I’ll bolt the door.
J. D. SALINGER

Listen Music Myself Reading
Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.
J. D. SALINGER

Laugh Marriage Yourself
I don’t exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.
J. D. SALINGER

Myself Word
The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.
J. D. SALINGER

Choice Difference Happiness Himself Joy

The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More J. D. Salinger Quotes