Bernard Malamud Quotes

There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to go - if there are no doors or windows he walks through a wall.

We have two lives... the life we learn with and the life we live after that. Suffering is what brings us towards happiness.

Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go.

Teach yourself to work in uncertainty.

Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.

The wild begins where you least expect it, one step off your normal course

Life is a tragedy full of joy.

If the stories come, you get them written, you're on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.

A man is an island in the only sense that matters, not an easy way to be. We live in mystery, a cosmos of separate lonely bodies, men, insects, stars. It is all loneliness and men know it best.

A writer is a spectator, looking at everything with a highly critical eye.