Search quotes

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
1d7bdbc	What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.	literature reading writing books	J.D. Salinger
699d413	Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to..		J.D. Salinger
d1d707d	I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.		J.D. Salinger
3beb9b3	I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect.		J.D. Salinger
71bbe56	I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though."	insincerity manners	J.D. Salinger
4752109	I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It's nice.		J.D. Salinger
b882ead	That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.	holden	J.D. Salinger
0940d7d	I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.		J.D. Salinger
4c3c772	It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.	confusion	J.D. Salinger
81dd58f	When you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.	death funeral-rites holden	J.D. Salinger
4e28a55	I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.		J.D. Salinger
731243c	And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.	laughter	J.D. Salinger
d7a625c	People are always ruining things for you.		J.D. Salinger
a90b961	Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.	stasis holden-caulfield	J.D. Salinger
efb8de0	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
7bf9e49	when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose."		J.D. Salinger
e798c25	All morons hate it when you call them a moron.		J.D. Salinger
d0436f9	If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late?	holden	J.D. Salinger
e6e5568	I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible.	lying life	J.D. Salinger
47fa8ec	I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.	salinger	J.D. Salinger
00ff2bb	People never notice anything.	obliviousness	J.D. Salinger
587f43d	People always clap for the wrong reasons.		J.D. Salinger
1363c16	I was trying to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't you feel even worse.	holden	J.D. Salinger
700ec6a	The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and they're pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving ..	life interesting	J.D. Salinger
7fce05f	And I can't be running back and fourth forever between grief and high delight.	grief happiness confusion	J.D. Salinger
92a7ff7	Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.		J.D. Salinger
1e2e364	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
06e8a32	If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don't watch it, you start showing off. And then you're not as good any more.		J.D. Salinger
888f964	I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.		J.D. Salinger
78b5c67	It's everybody, I mean. Everything everybody does is so -- I don't know -- not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and -- sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you're conforming just as much only in a different way.		J.D. Salinger
fe03e1a	Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.	iceskates lexidreams presents	J.D. Salinger
87e550a	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
ddd90ae	Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.	writing	J.D. Salinger
f2b3c6e	If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It's impossible."	humor signs holden	J.D. Salinger
2169ae8	The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.		J.D. Salinger
4536aaa	I can be quite sarcastic when I'm in the mood.	sarcastic sarcasm	J.D. Salinger
8b853c8	I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it.		J.D. Salinger
cacb1a7	I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy.	intelligence	J.D. Salinger
35c1058	Poets are always taking the weather so personally. They're always sticking their emotions in things that have no emotions.		J.D. Salinger
57cc2b6	I love you to pieces, distraction, etc.		J.D. Salinger
38173b3	I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you.	antolini inspirational catcher-in-the-rye	J.D. Salinger
3b5c601	I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you."	inspirational catcher-in-the-rye	J.D. Salinger
9775770	Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.		J.D. Salinger
b4f990e	This fall I think you're riding for--it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gav..	depression inertia despair	J.D. Salinger

1d7bdbc

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.

literature reading writing books

J.D. Salinger

699d413

Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to..

J.D. Salinger

d1d707d

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.

J.D. Salinger

3beb9b3

I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect.

J.D. Salinger

71bbe56

I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though."

insincerity manners

J.D. Salinger

4752109

I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It's nice.

J.D. Salinger

b882ead

That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.

holden

J.D. Salinger

0940d7d

I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.

J.D. Salinger

4c3c772

It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.

confusion

J.D. Salinger

81dd58f

When you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.

death funeral-rites holden

J.D. Salinger

4e28a55

I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.

J.D. Salinger

731243c

And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.

laughter

J.D. Salinger

d7a625c

People are always ruining things for you.

J.D. Salinger

a90b961

Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.

stasis holden-caulfield

J.D. Salinger

efb8de0

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

7bf9e49

when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose."

J.D. Salinger

e798c25

All morons hate it when you call them a moron.

J.D. Salinger

d0436f9

If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late?

holden

J.D. Salinger

e6e5568

I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible.

lying life

J.D. Salinger

47fa8ec

I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.

salinger

J.D. Salinger

00ff2bb

People never notice anything.

obliviousness

J.D. Salinger

587f43d

People always clap for the wrong reasons.

J.D. Salinger

1363c16

I was trying to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't you feel even worse.

holden

J.D. Salinger

700ec6a

The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and they're pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving ..

life interesting

J.D. Salinger

7fce05f

And I can't be running back and fourth forever between grief and high delight.

grief happiness confusion

J.D. Salinger

92a7ff7

Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.

J.D. Salinger

1e2e364

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

06e8a32

If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don't watch it, you start showing off. And then you're not as good any more.

J.D. Salinger

888f964

I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.

J.D. Salinger

78b5c67

It's everybody, I mean. Everything everybody does is so -- I don't know -- not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and -- sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you're conforming just as much only in a different way.

J.D. Salinger

fe03e1a

Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.

iceskates lexidreams presents

J.D. Salinger

87e550a

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

ddd90ae

Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.

writing

J.D. Salinger

f2b3c6e

If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It's impossible."

humor signs holden

J.D. Salinger

2169ae8

The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.

J.D. Salinger

4536aaa

I can be quite sarcastic when I'm in the mood.

sarcastic sarcasm

J.D. Salinger

8b853c8

I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it.

J.D. Salinger

cacb1a7

I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy.

intelligence

J.D. Salinger

35c1058

Poets are always taking the weather so personally. They're always sticking their emotions in things that have no emotions.

J.D. Salinger

57cc2b6

I love you to pieces, distraction, etc.

J.D. Salinger

38173b3

I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you.

antolini inspirational catcher-in-the-rye

J.D. Salinger

3b5c601

I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you."

inspirational catcher-in-the-rye

J.D. Salinger

9775770

Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.

J.D. Salinger

b4f990e

This fall I think you're riding for--it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gav..

depression inertia despair

J.D. Salinger