I pretended not to understand. One of life's hardest jobs, to make a quick understanding slow. I think I succeeded, thought Herzog.

Saul Bellow

Categorized in : Thinking Jobs Hardest Job

Great pressure is brought to bear to make us undervalue ourselves. On the other hand, civilization teaches that each of us is an inestimable prize. There are, then, these two preparations: one for life and the other for death. Therefore we value and are ashamed to value ourselves.

self civilization hands

...there is no old age of the soul. by Saul Bellow

...there is no old age of the soul.

But privately when things got very bad I often looked into books to see whether I could find some helpful words, and one day I read, "The forgiveness of sins is perpetual and righteousness first is not required." This impressed me so deeply that I went around saying it to myself. But then I forgot which book it was.

one-day book firsts

Fidelity is for phonographs by Saul Bellow

Fidelity is for phonographs

phonograph fidelity

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the s... by Saul Bellow

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.

soul love funny

At moments I dislike having a face, a nose, lips, because he has... by Saul Bellow

At moments I dislike having a face, a nose, lips, because he has them.

lips noses faces

Only self-hatred could lead him to ruin himself because his heart... by Saul Bellow

Only self-hatred could lead him to ruin himself because his heart was "broken.

broken self heart

If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach t... by Saul Bellow

If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.

ability women teacher

Humankind struggles with collective powers for its freedom, the individual struggles with dehumanization for the possession of his soul.

individual soul struggle

You have to fight for your life. That's the chief condition on wh... by Saul Bellow

You have to fight for your life. That's the chief condition on which you hold it.

chiefs conditions fighting

There was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it it got even stronger.

passion voice heart

Live or die but don't poison everything. by Saul Bellow

Live or die but don't poison everything.

For God's sake,' the dog is saying, 'open the universe a little m... by Saul Bellow

For God's sake,' the dog is saying, 'open the universe a little more!

sake dog littles

It wasn't that he was specially ungenerous but that he put things off to give his generosity a longer and more significant route.

significant generosity giving

Art -- the fresh feeling, new harmony, the transforming magic which by means of myth brings back the scattered distracted soul from its modern chaos -- art, not politics, is the remedy.

Ninety per cent of life is a nightmare, do you think I am going to get it rounded up to hundred per cent?

nightmare life-is thinking

A man may say, "From now on I'm going to speak the truth." But the truth hears him and runs away and hides before he's even done speaking.

may running men

And I said to myself that unless you conceive Death to be a violent guerrilla and kidnaper who snatches those you love, and if you are not cowardly and cannot submit to such terrorism as civilized people now do in every department of life, you must pursue and inquire and explore every possibility and seek everywhere and try everything.

terrorism trying people

But she's a nut, and nuts win. by Saul Bellow

But she's a nut, and nuts win.

It is wrong to turn a man (a subject) into a thing (an object). By means of spiritual dialogue, the I-It relationship becomes an I-Thou relationship. God comes and goes in man's soul. And men come and go in each other's souls. Sometimes they come and go in each other's beds, too.

spiritual men mean