“People are always ruining things for you.”
— J. D. Salinger
“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”
— J. D. Salinger
“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.”
— J. D. Salinger
“I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.”
— J. D. Salinger
“I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect.”
— J. D. Salinger
“I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy.”
— J. D. Salinger
“He hated it when you called a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron.”
— J. D. Salinger
“All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.”
— J. D. Salinger
“I'm just sick of ego, ego, ego. My own and everybody else's. I'm sick of everybody that wants to get somewhere, do something distinguished and all, be somebody interesting. It's disgusting.”
— J. D. Salinger
“Just because somebody's dead, you don't just stop liking them, for God's sake—especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all.”
— J. D. Salinger