Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth19 March 1933
CountryUnited States of America
Philip Roth quotes about
reading two focus
To read a novel requires a certain kind of concentration, focus, devotion to the reading. If you read a novel in more than two weeks, you don't read the novel really.
writing sisterhood skulls
The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.
fun games faces
Because that is when you love somebody - when you see them being game in the face of the worst. Not courageous. Not heroic. Just game.
dream doctors needs
Dreams? If only they had been! But I don't need dreams, Doctor, that's why I hardly have them—because I have this life instead. With me it all happens in broad daylight!
character men envy
American society [...] not only sanctions gross and unfair relations among men, but it encourages them. Now, can that be denied? No. Rivalry, competition, envy, jealousy, all that is malignant in human character is nourished by the system. Possession, money, property--on such corrupt standards as these do you people measure happiness and success.
world novelists easier
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.
hands giving stills
It's best to give while your hand is still warm.
materials happens
Nothing bad can happen to a writer. Everything is material.
fun people unjust
People are unjust to anger - it can be enlivening and a lot of fun.
taste enough given
You tasted it. Isn't that enough? Of what do you ever get more than a taste? That's all we're given in life, that's all we're given of life. A taste. There is no more.
hatred danger hundred
The danger with hatred is, once you start in on it, you get a hundred times more than you bargained for. Once you start, you can't stop.
growing-up thinking worry
Stop worrying about growing old. And think about growing up.
miracle understanding too-late
Too late, but I understand. That we don't perish of understanding everything too late, that is a miracle. But we do perish of that -- of just that.
father sleep kids
It's absolutely fantastic. When I was a kid, my father was always trying to tell me how to be a man, and he said to me, I was maybe 9, and he said to me, 'Philip, whenever you take a nap, take your clothes off, put a blanket on you, and you're going to sleep better.' Well, as with everything, he was right. ... Then the best part of it is that when you wake up, for the first 15 seconds, you have no idea where you are. You're just alive. That's all you know. And it's bliss, it's absolute bliss.