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bcc8dc6
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I used to think she was quite intelligent , in my stupidity. The reason I did was because she knew quite a lot about the theater and plays and literature and all that stuff. If somebody knows quite a lot about all those things, it takes you quite a while to find out whether they're really stupid or not.
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J.D. Salinger |
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5ef5efd
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Sleep tight, ya morons!
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holden
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J.D. Salinger |
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374d60f
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It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true.
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truth
holden
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J.D. Salinger |
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5c15884
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Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row.
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J.D. Salinger |
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1ad465f
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I have scars on my hands from touching certain people...Certain heads, certain colours and textures of human hair leave permanent marks on me.
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J.D. Salinger |
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a307bc8
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I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.
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holden-caulfield
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J.D. Salinger |
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0957ff4
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I know he's dead! Don't you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can't I? Just because somebody's dead, you don't just stop liking them, for God's sake--especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all.
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J.D. Salinger |
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79b3514
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You don't know how to talk to people you don't like. Don't love, really. You can't live in the world with such strong likes and dislikes.
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J.D. Salinger |
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9a5aa97
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I'll read my books and I'll drink coffee and I'll listen to music, and I'll bolt the door." (
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solitude
introvert
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J.D. Salinger |
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ee37da0
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She was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hand all the time, as if they were afraid they'd bore you or something. Jane was different. We'd get into a goddam movie or something, and right away we'd start holding hands, and we wouldn't quit till the movie was over. And without changing the position or making a big deal out of it..
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J.D. Salinger |
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8da8471
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who wants flowers when youre dead? nobody.
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flowers
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J.D. Salinger |
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ef8c828
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It's not too bad when the sun's out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.
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J.D. Salinger |
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72ad09f
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She was not one for emptying her face of expression.
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face
expression
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J.D. Salinger |
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83d0611
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That's the whole trouble. When you're feeling very depressed, you can't even think.
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J.D. Salinger |
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5a74f20
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I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say 'Holden Caulfield' on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it'll say 'Fuck you.' I'm positive, in fact.
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J.D. Salinger |
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fa13ceb
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I don't even know what I was running for--I guess I just felt like it.
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J.D. Salinger |
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7745efc
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Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round...All the kids tried to grap for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she's fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it is bad to say anything to them.
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J.D. Salinger |
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0044cea
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I mean they don't seem able to love us just the way we are. They don't seem able to love us unless they can keep changing us a little bit. They love their reasons for loving us almost as much as they love us, and most of the time more.
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J.D. Salinger |
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73f3295
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I figured I could get a job at a filling station somewhere, putting gas and oil in people's cars. I didn't care what kind of job it was, though. Just so people didn't know me and I didn't know anybody. I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they'd have to write it on a piece of paper a..
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depression
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J.D. Salinger |
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3a1157b
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This is a people shooting hat," I said. "I shoot people in this hat."
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J.D. Salinger |
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be36b57
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You're lucky if you get time to sneeze in this goddam phenomenal world.
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J.D. Salinger |
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18703b4
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I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away.
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J.D. Salinger |
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b102f46
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I'm not afraid to compete. It's just the opposite. Don't you see that? I'm afraid I will compete -- that's what scares me. That's why I quit the Theatre Department. Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I'm sick of myself and..
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J.D. Salinger |
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f0f597d
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That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose. Try it sometime. I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say "Holden Caulfield" on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, a..
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J.D. Salinger |
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5c471c9
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Don't tell people what you are thinking, or you will miss them terribly when you are away.
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J.D. Salinger |
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fcda7a8
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Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.
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holden
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J.D. Salinger |
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d680742
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It always smelled like it was raining outside, even if it wasn't, and you were in the only nice, dry, cosy place in the world.
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J.D. Salinger |
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8bcf9ba
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If you weren't around, I'd probably be someplace way the hell off. In the woods or some goddamn place. You're the only reason I'm around, practically.
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J.D. Salinger |
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3961712
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If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
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holden
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J.D. Salinger |
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b5a89cf
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I privately say to you, old friend... please accept from me this unpretentious bouquet of early-blooming parentheses: (((()))).
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J.D. Salinger |
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b088230
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If were God, I certainly wouldn't want people to love me sentimentally. It's too unreliable.
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J.D. Salinger |
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fcb0337
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Sometimes I see me dead in the rain.
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J.D. Salinger |
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467c155
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She said she knew she was able to fly because when she came down she always had dust on her fingers from touching the light bulbs.
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J.D. Salinger |
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ef6a1f4
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I don't think it would have all got me quite so down if just once in a while--just once in a while--there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn't, it's just a disgusting waste of time! But there never is! You never even hear any hints dropped on a campus that wisdom is supposed to be the goal of knowledge. You hardly ever even hear the word 'wisdom' mentioned!
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education
wisdom
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J.D. Salinger |
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ed1adb7
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I wouldn't exactly describe her as strictly beautiful. She knocked me out, though.
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J.D. Salinger |
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9006d86
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But I'm Crazy. I swear to God I am.
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J.D. Salinger |
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d853d62
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If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you got to hate everybody in the world, I swear you did.
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J.D. Salinger |
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3272d81
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You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.
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education
teachers
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J.D. Salinger |
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cb1b7a3
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I don't really deeply feel that anyone needs an airtight reason for quoting from the works of the writers he loves, but it's always nice, I'll grant you, if he has one.
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J.D. Salinger |
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fbd850b
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It's such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean, how do you know what you're going to do till you it? The answer is, you . I I am, but how do I know? I swear it's a stupid question.
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youth
spontaneity
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J.D. Salinger |
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deaec05
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I knew it wasn't too important, but it made me sad anyway.
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J.D. Salinger |
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2c235d7
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I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they'd have to write it on a piece of paper and shove it over to me. They'd get bored as hell doing that after a while, and then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life. Everybody'd think I was just a poor deaf-mute bastar..
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J.D. Salinger |
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9c1b84b
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People never think anything is anything really. I'm getting goddam sick of it.
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J.D. Salinger |
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139eaaf
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Your heart, Bessie, is an autumn garage.
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J.D. Salinger |