Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
JOSEPH HELLERI’m not running away from my responsibilities. I’m running to them. There’s nothing negative about running away to save my life.
More Joseph Heller Quotes
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Well, he died. You don’t get any older than that.
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I’ve only had four ideas for a novel in my life, and I’ve written all of them.
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There is no disappointment so numbing as someone no better than you achieving more.
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When people disagreed with him he urged them to be objective.
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The question is: what is a sane man to do in an insane society?
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In the long run, failure was the only thing that worked predictably. All else was accidental.
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From men motivated by moral certitude, history teaches, no lasting good ever comes.
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When I look up, I see people cashing in. I don’t see heaven or saints or angels. I see people cashing in on every decent impulse and every human tragedy.
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He was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody
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Something did happen to me somewhere that robbed me of confidence and courage and left me with a fear of discovery and change and a positive dread of everything unknown that may occur.
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I want to keep my dreams, even bad ones, because without them, I might have nothing all night long.
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All of my books deal in a very rough, rude fashion with subjects about which there are great conflicts of opinion.
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The villains will come along. There were plenty in the Carter administration, and there will be plenty with Reagan.
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Men went mad and were rewarded with medals.
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Rise above principal and do what’s right.
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While none of the work we do is very important, it is important that we do a great deal of it.
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For war there is always enough. It’s peace that’s expensive.
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Remember that everyone deserves some fun during working hours.
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History was a trash bag of random coincidences torn open in a wind.
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Where were you born?” “On a battlefield,” [Yossarian] answered. “No, no. In what state were you born?” “In a state of innocence.
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Be glad you’re even alive. Be furious you’re going to die.
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Anything worth dying for is certainly worth living for.
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Prostitution gives her an opportunity to meet people. It provides fresh air and wholesome exercise, and it keeps her out of trouble.
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I wouldn’t want to live without strong misgivings.
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Peace on earth would mean the end of civilization as we know it.
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I don’t understand the process of imagination-though I know that I am very much at its mercy.
JOSEPH HELLER