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Richard Yates
99 quotes
“I mean talk about decadence," he declared, "how decadent can a society get? Look at it this way. This country's probably the psychiatric, psychoanalytical capital of the world.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.65. (Part 1, Chapter 4) [Page numbers per the 2007 Vintage paperback edition]
“Wow," he said. "Now you've said it. The hopeless emptiness. Hell, plenty of people are on to the emptiness part; out where I used to work, on the Coast, that's all we ever talked about. We'd sit around talking about emptiness all night. Nobody ever said 'hopeless', though; that's where we'd chicken out. Because maybe it does take a certain amount of guts to see the emptiness, but it takes a whole hell of a lot more to see the hopelessness. And I guess when you do see the hopelessness, that's where there's nothing to do but take off. If you can.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know?" he said. "This is the kind of thing that really—" he paused, examining the wisp of smoke that curled from his wet pipestem. "Really makes you stop and think.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After a while he stopped listening. His ears took in only the rise and fall of her voice, the elaborate, familiar, endless rhythm of it; but from long experience he was able to say "Oh yes" or "Of course," in all the right places.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.5 (Prologue) [Page numbers per the Methuen 2006 Edition]
“Late in the afternoon the company cooks brought food up to the village for the first hot meal they'd had since Belgium - salmon patties, dehydrated potatoes, and canned fruit salad - and most of the men seemed in high spirits as they sat or squatted over their mess kits in the street. "What kind of catshit is this?" "Salmon-patty catshit, that's what kind.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why couldn't she stop talking? Did all lonely people have that problem?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You make it sound so easy." But that was one of the wonderful things about Sterling Nelson: he could make any difficult thing sound easy, and the only other man she had ever known who could do that was Willard Slade. All the others, George, for example, had made easy things sound difficult.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I expect you'll miss your friends." "I don't really have any friends; not real ones. Anyway, we'll make new friends.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(and when would she ever learn not to monopolize a whole evening's conversation?)”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That had the sound of a good exit line, so she went quickly into her room and slammed the door.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Her face, in the spattered mirror, was a shocked and wild-eyed ruin.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He seemed decent and kindly enough, but Prentice was cautioned by an old and trusted rule of his schooldays: Beware of the first friendly one; he's probably an outcast himself.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sumbitch wasn't even needed, that's the funny part; just some eager-beaver bastard couldn't mind his own business.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After a second or two he thrust the muzzle forward and broke out the pane of glass, less because he knew it would make for a better aim than because it was what gunmen always did behind windows in movies.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Okay, kid," Walker said, "This is it." And it was the absurdity of the phrase - nobody said "This is it" except in the movies, unless they were phoney bastards like Loomis - that roused Prentice to his first real anger of the morning. He wanted to smash and break the head of anyone stupid enough to say a thing like that; he wanted to kill all the posturing fraudulence in the world, and it was all here before him in this big, dumb, bobbing face.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The first drink tasted so good that he let her do most of the talking while he savored it, sitting beside her and watching her profile. The tip of her small nose bobbed very slightly up and down at each syllable beginning with p, b or m, and that seemed a lovely thing for a girl's nose to do.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.101 (Ch. 3) [page numbers per the 2008 Vintage edition.]
“To find order in chaos - why, of course; that was what he'd wanted all his life. He had been born for this, for finding order in chaos, and all the wasted years has been a mistake. To find order in chaos; to find order in chaos.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's something we have to discuss," she said, and from the way she said it he knew it wouldn't be a discussion at all. She had something to tell him - something he wouldn't like - and he had better shut up and sit down and listen.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“she talked less, or at least did less of the kind of talking whose only purpose was to fill silence”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“..."a man doesn't spend all these years building something and then kick it to pieces. Don't - well, to put it coarsely, don't shit where you eat.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It seemed only a few minutes later that he woke with a sense that the world was coming apart.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You don't have much use for black people, do you, Mr Wilder? Deep down you wish we'd all go away. You think our lips are too thick and our noses too flat and you shudder at the thought of our kinky hair. Isn't that about right, Mr Wilder?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I see," she said. And when would she ever learn to stop saying 'I see' about things she didn't see at all?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.66. (Part 1, Chapter 4) [Page numbers per the 2008 Vintage paperback edition]
“and for an hour or two they talked in circles.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Most people do the best they can.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Could a person really be cynical about everything in the world and still expect to have friends?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There would probably always be kids like Grove in prep schools: you would find only irritation in trying to help them, or to like them, and you could probably never bring yourself to call them by their first names until ten years later, when they came back to visit the school with their wives.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There was no readiness for soldiering in this truck, no stern and cocky welcoming of challenges. They sounded - oh, Mother of God - they sounded like children.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We had a few beers and laughed more than we meant to and punched each other's arms; in the end, out on the sidewalk again, I think we shook hands about three times in saying goodbye. Just before turning away he said "Listen, though: don't look back too much, okay? You can drive yourself crazy that way.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Try to remember this, men. The mark of a professional in any line of work - I mean any line of work - is that he can make difficult things look easy.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.4 (Pt.1, Ch.1) [Page numbers per the Methuen Publishing Ltd 2005 edition]
“Of course. And isn't that the worst kind of loss? When you don't even realise the value of something until you've thrown it away?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, marriage is funny, Mike", Harold said once with the wind whipping the vapor of his voice over his shoulder. "You can go along for years without ever knowing who you're married to. It's a riddle." "You're right," Michael said. "It is." "Then maybe once in a while you take a look at this girl, this woman, and you think: What's the deal? How come? Why her? Why me?" "Yeah, I know what you mean, Harold.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think you'll find ordinary people are nicer than you give them credit for being”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And from this distance they all did look like kids - boys and girls from far and wide with their cheap hand luggage and their Army duffel bags, brave entertainers who might travel for years before it occurred to them, or to most of them, that they weren't going anywhere.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's often occurred to me," she said, "that 'friend' is about the most treacherous word in the language.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But this isn't a lecture course. The only way any of us can learn this craft is by saturating ourselves in examples of it, in and out of print, and then trying to put the best of what we've found into our own work.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All I'm trying to say is that I'm afraid I got a kind of who-cares feeling out of this. Very strong writing, fine writing; still, the material kept making me think, Yeah, yeah, I get it, but who cares?”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As my husband always used to say, who cares?" "A lot of people care, Ann." "Well, that's a nice thought, but try counting them up on your fingers. Name me four. Name me three.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yeah, well, sure, 'remarkably intelligent'. Look, baby, the world is crawling with these diamond-in-the-rough types, these salt-of-the-earth characters, and they're all remarkably intelligent. My God, I knew half-literate guys in the Army who could scare the shit out of you with their intelligence.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't get it," Laura said. "How come boys can do whatever they feel like and girls can't?" "Because they're boys," Lucy cried. "Boys have done whatever they've felt like since the beginning of time, don't you even know that? Haven't you ever learned that yet, you poor, ignorant little - how smart do you have to be to know a thing like that? They're irresponsible and self-indulgent and careless and cruel, and they get away with it all their lives because they're boys.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“exchanging agreeable remarks for no other purpose than to keep silence from closing in.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's funny, you know? Distance doesn't matter anymore. It's almost as if geography didn't exist. All you do is doze and float in a pressurised cabin for a while - and it doesn't even matter how long, because time isn't important, either - and before you know it you're in Los Angeles, or London, or Tokyo. Then if you don't happen to like wherever it is you find yourself, you can doze and float again until you find yourself somewhere else.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Or was it possible that nobody's reasons could be all that clearly defined? Maybe men and women came together in ways as random and mindless as the mating of birds or pigs or insects, so that any talk of "reasons" would always be vain, always be self-deceiving and beside the point. Well, that would be one way of looking at it.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p.46 (Ch.5) [Page numbers per the 2008 Vintage paperback edition]
“And he didn't know how to answer her (Well, maybe; maybe not; yes and no); so he didn't say anything. He opened a cold beer and sat down with it, knowing he'd need a little time and quiet to sort things out. "Look: just sit now, okay?" he told her. "Sit. Sit." And it sounded like a command given to a nervous, well-trained dog, but she obeyed him.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes the world was just too fucking much.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And he was afraid she might be taking this much too seriously, so he reached out to stroke or tousle her hair, but that didn't work because she'd just been to the hairdresser and didn't want to get it messed up.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rachel became slowly aware now, even while talking and listening to her own voice, that there might well be something universal about the pleasure a grown girl could take in disparaging her mother. Maybe it happened with sons and their fathers, too, or with all grown children and the ever-diminishing presence of parents in their lives; in any case, the knowledge didn't prevent her from pressing on, as if to see how far she would dare to go.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From the day of his talkative, overconfident arrival at Irving he had failed and failed at learning how not to behave like a jerk; and everybody knew what kind of life a jerk could expect at prep school.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And he didn't mind at all. Downstairs and outdoors and alone again, back in the trampled dust in front of the place, he pitied the drab supervisor and all her quick, harried, frowning children because none of them looked as though they had anything worth waiting for, tonight or ever.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, she's - sweet," he told her. "She's very sweet, and I guess that's part of the trouble. She's like a little girl - is a little girl.”
Richard Yates (1926–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source