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

Myself Word
Sentimentality is loving something more than God does.
J. D. SALINGER

Emotional God Love
You can’t stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.
J. D. SALINGER

Teaching Yourself
I’m just sick of ego, ego, ego. My own and everybody else’s. I’m sick of everybody that wants to get somewhere, do something distinguished and all, be somebody interesting. It’s disgusting.
J. D. SALINGER

Be Yourself Different Myself Sick
A confessional passage has probably never been written that didn’t stink a little bit of the writer’s pride in having given up his pride.
J. D. SALINGER

Pride Writing
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
Nobody who’s really using his ego, his real ego, has any time for any goddam hobbies.
J. D. SALINGER

Attitude Himself Reality
How long should a man’s legs be? Long enough to touch the ground.
J. D. SALINGER

Man Touch
She was not one for emptying her face of expression.
J. D. SALINGER

Empty Expression Face Herself
People are mostly hot to have a discussion when you’re not.
J. D. SALINGER

People Yourself
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
Its really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs.
J. D. SALINGER

People Rich
It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road.
J. D. SALINGER

Cold Crazy Kind Road Sun Time
You’re lucky if you get time to sneeze in this goddam phenomenal world.
J. D. SALINGER

Time World 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
Did you ever get fed up?’ I said. ‘I mean did you ever get scared that everything was going to go lousy unless you did something?
J. D. SALINGER

Action Fear Yourself
If you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.
J. D. SALINGER

Beautiful History Learning Poetry Yourself
People always clap for the wrong reasons.
J. D. SALINGER

People Reason Wrong
I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.
J. D. SALINGER

Happiness Myself People
Listen, if you’re not going to be a nun or something, you might as well laugh.
J. D. SALINGER

Job Laugh Listen
Most stuff that is genuine is better left unsaid.
J. D. SALINGER

One Liner Philosophy
I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.
J. D. SALINGER

Courage Myself Sickness
All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
J. D. SALINGER

Hate Stupidity
Do you know what I was smiling at? You wrote down that you were a writer by profession. It sounded to me like the loveliest euphemism I had ever heard. When was writing ever your profession? It’s never been anything but your religion.
J. D. SALINGER

Love Myself Religion Smile Writing
I’m one of the little foxes that spoil the grapes.
J. D. SALINGER

Food Myself Oneself
That’s something that annoys the hell out of me-I mean if somebody says the coffee’s all ready and it isn’t.
J. D. SALINGER

Hell Myself

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

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

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