I think taste is a social concept and not an artistic one. I'm willing to show good taste, if I can, in somebody else's living room, but our reading life is too short for a writer to be in any way polite. Since his words enter into another's brain in silence and intimacy, he should be as honest and explicit as we are with ourselves.

John Updike

More Quotes by John Updike
More Quotes From John Updike

It is easy to love people in memory; the hard thing is to love them when they are there in front of you.

John Updike
lovelymemoriespeople
Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered. by John Updike

Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.

John Updike
materialsinspirationliterature
Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self- solitude... by John Updike

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self- solitude is the enemy of well- being.

John Updike
acceptanceperfectionself

Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have only to be still to experience.

John Updike
experiencedoelife
Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not inci... by John Updike

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.

John Updike
dreamsuccesspositive
Do what the heart commands. The heart is our only guide. by John Updike

Do what the heart commands. The heart is our only guide.

John Updike
guidesguidanceheart
Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you... by John Updike

Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.

John Updike
roller-coasterlifefall

Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare to go it alone.

John Updike
decaysuccesswriting
Living is a compromise, between doing what you want and doing wha... by John Updike

Living is a compromise, between doing what you want and doing what other people want.

John Updike
doing-what-you-wantcompromisepeople
I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's... by John Updike

I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head.

John Updike
novelistswritingbook

Looking foolish does the spirit good. The need not to look foolish is one of youth's many burdens; as we get older we are exempted from more and more.

John Updike
doelooksneeds

I like old men. They can be wonderful bastards because they have nothing to lose. The only people who can be themselves are babies and old bastards.

John Updike
babymenpeople

Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead?

John Updike
atheistintellectualhumanity
Sex is like money; only too much is enough. by John Updike

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

John Updike
funny-moneytoo-muchsex

The artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before, and he does it without destroying something else.

John Updike
artistdoeworld
Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without r... by John Updike

Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.

John Updike
rainskylife

In a country this large and a language even larger ... there ought to be a living for somebody who cares and wants to entertain and instruct a reader.

John Updike
who-careswritingcountry
If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your pri... by John Updike

If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.

John Updike
being-yourselfpaypeople
Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage. by John Updike

Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage.

John Updike
illusiongovernmentshould
Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mer... by John Updike

Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mere populism.

John Updike
nakedrevolutionarybeauty