Quote

The main reason for rewriting is not to achieve a smooth surface, but to discover the inner truth of your characters.

Saul Bellow

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Saul Bellow
Age: 89 †
Born: 1915
Born: June 10
Died: 2005
Died: April 5
Author
Essayist
Novelist
University Teacher
Writer
Solomon Bellows
Truth
Rewriting
Character
Smooth
Reason
Main
Discover
Surface
Inner
Characters
Achieve

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If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.
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We are funny creatures. We don't see the stars as they are, so why do we love them? They are not small gold objects, but endless fire.
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Death deserves dignity.
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You're all alone when you're a writer. Sometimes you just feel you need a humanity bath. Even a ride on the subway will do that. But it's much more interesting to talk about books. After all, that's what life used to be for writers: they talk books, politics, history, America. Nothing has replaced that.
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Death is the dark backing a mirror needs if we are to see anything
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For the first time in history, the human species as a whole has gone into politics. Everyone is in the act, and there is no telling what may come of it.
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I don't like to write from a flat, cold position. You must like what you're doing very much or like the people -- either like them or hate them. You can't be indifferent.
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Retirement is an illusion. Not a reward but a mantrap. The bankrupt underside of success. A shortcut to death. Golf courses are too much like cemeteries.
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She's very pretty but she's honey from the icebox, if you know what I mean. Cold sweets won't spread.
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A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
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It's usually the selfish people who are loved the most. They do what you deny yourself, and you love them for it. You give them your heart.
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You have, like the external world, your own phenomena inside.
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To tell the truth I never had it so good. But I lacked the strength of character to bear such joy.
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If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.
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What do women want? They eat green salad and drink human blood.
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With a novelist, like a surgeon, you have to get a feeling that you've fallen into good hands - someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence.
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Ninety per cent of life is a nightmare, do you think I am going to get it rounded up to hundred per cent?
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The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.
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There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.
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