More - Philip Roth Quotes

Is an intelligent human being likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?

Philip Roth

 American Novelist Human

My God! The English language is a form of communication! Conversation isn't just crossfire where you shoot and get shot at! Where you've got to duck for your life and aim to kill! Words aren't only bombs and bullets / no, they're little gifts, containing meanings!

Philip Roth

 Communication

Fear tends to manifest itself much more quickly than greed, so volatile markets tend to be on the downside. In up markets, volatility tends to gradually decline.

Philip Roth

 American Novelist Fear

Just like those who are incurably ill, the aged know everything about their dying except exactly when.

Philip Roth

 American Novelist

History ... is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

Philip Roth

 History

I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography, I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or it isn't.

Philip Roth

 Autobiography

Together they are the Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain of the 20th century,

Philip Roth

 

I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway. I would prefer to, I assure you -- it would make life easier. But discretion is, unfortunately, not for novelists.

Philip Roth

 Discretion

When you publish a book, it's the world's book. The world edits it.

Philip Roth

 American Novelist

The Jewish man with parents alive is a fifteen-year-old boy and will remain a fifteen-year-old until they die

Philip Roth