List of John Gardner Quotes

I Understand That The World Was Nothing: A Mechanical Chaos Of Casual, Brute Enmity On Which We Stupidly Impose Our Hopes And Fears. I Understood That, Finally And Absolutely, I Alone Exist. All The Rest, I Saw, Is Merely What Pushes Me, Or What I Push Against, Blindly - As Blindly As All That Is Not Myself Pushes Back. I Create The Whole Universe, Blink By Blink.

They Watch On, Evil, Incredibly Stupid, Enjoying My Destruction. 'poor Grendel's Had An Accident,' I Whisper. 'so May You All.

It Would Be, For Me, Mere Pointless Pleasure, An Illusion Of Order For This One Frail, Foolish, Flicker-flash In The Long Dull Fall Of Eternity.

The Image-managers Encourage The Individual To Fashion Himself Into A Smooth Coin, Negotiable In Any Market.

Find A Pile Of Gold And Sit On It.

I Cannot Believe Such Monstrous Energy Of Grief Can Lead To Nothing!

Writing A Novel Is Like Heading Out Over The Open Sea In A Small Boat. It Helps, If You Have A Plan And A Course Laid Out.

Talking, Talking. Spinning A Web Of Words, Pale Walls Of Dreams, Between Myself And All I See.

So Childhood Too Feels Good At First, Before One Happens To Notice The Terrible Sameness, Age After Age.

There Is No Limit To Desire But Desire's Needs.

In University Courses We Do Exercises. Term Papers, Quizzes, Final Examinations Are Not Meant For Publication. We Move Through A Course On Dostoevsky Or Poe As We Move Through A Mildly Good Cocktail Party, Picking Up The Good Bits Of Food Or Conversation, Bearing With The Rest, Going Home When It Comes To Seem The Reasonable Thing To Do. Art, At Those Moments When It Feels Most Like Art -- When We Feel Most Alive, Most Alert, Most Triumphant -- Is Less Like A Cocktail Party Than A Tank Full Of Sharks.

Great Things Happen Nationally When Topmost Leadership Is Goaded And Supported From Below.