Humankind struggles with collective powers for its freedom, the individual struggles with dehumanization for the possession of his soul. Saul Bellow More Quotes by Saul Bellow More Quotes From Saul Bellow I blame myself for not often enough seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. Somewhere in his journals, Dostoyevky remarks that a writer can begin anywhere, at the most commonplace thing, scratch around in it long enough, pry and dig away long enough, and lo!, soon he will hit upon the marvelous. Saul Bellow ordinarywritinglong Art attempts to find in the universe, in matter as well as in the facts of life, what is fundamental, enduring, essential. Saul Bellow designmatterart I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. Saul Bellow chaosachievementart 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. Saul Bellow poetryamericaart In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves. Saul Bellow confusionbusinesssoul Bringing people into the here-and-now. The real universe. That's the present moment. The past is no good to us. The future is full of anxiety. Only the present is real--the here-and-now. Seize the day. Saul Bellow realpeoplepast There is much to be said for exotic marriages. If your husband is a bore, it takes years longer to discover. Saul Bellow exotichusbandyears I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction. Saul Bellow distractionattentionart I don’t actually take much stock in the collapsing culture bit. I’m beginning to see it instead as the conduct of life without input from your soul. Saul Bellow inputsoulculture Hapiness can only be found if you can free yourself of all other distractions. Saul Bellow free-yourselfdistractionmadness Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. But the over-examined life makes you wish you were dead. Given the alternative, I'd rather be living. Saul Bellow alternativeslife-iswish We are always looking for the book it is necessary to read next. Saul Bellow nextbook Unfortunately for the betterment of mankind it is not always the fair-minded who are in the right. Saul Bellow bettermentfairsmankind I am deeply moved when I write. I get turned on by it. I've never used any drugs for stimulation. I don't use words loosely. When I'm working and the right word comes, there is an answering resonance within me. There is also a hardness of intention that goes with it. There is no idleness in it. Saul Bellow drugusewriting Those who have a why to live for can bear almost any how. The necessary premise is that a person is somehow more than his or her "characteristics," all the emotions, strivings, tastes, and constructions which it pleases us to call "My Life." We have grounds to hope that a Life is something more than a cloud of particles, mere facticity. Go through what is comprehensible and you conclude that only the incomprehensible gives any light. Saul Bellow lightcloudslife A writer is in the broadest sense a spokesman of his community. Through him that community comes to know its heart. Without such knowledge, how long can it survive? Saul Bellow heartwritinglong 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. Saul Bellow analystsdefinitionsconscious Retirement is an illusion. Not a reward but a mantrap. The bankrupt underside of success. A shortcut to death. Golf courses are too much like cemeteries. Saul Bellow too-muchgolfretirement California is like an artificial limb the rest of the country doesn't really need. You can quote me on that. Saul Bellow californiacountryneeds Because I have become such a solitary, and not in the Aristotelian sense: not a beast, not a god. Rather, a loner troubled by longings, incapable of finding a suitable language and despairing at the impossibility of composing messages in a playable key--as if I no longer understood the codes used by the estimable people who wanted to hear from me and would have so much to reply if only the impediments were taken away. Saul Bellow keystakenpeople
