The writer must face the fact that ordinary lives are what most people live most of the time, and that the novel as a narration of the fantastic and the adventurous is really an escapist plot; that aesthetically, the ordinary, the banal, is what you must deal with. John Updike adventurousaestheticallybanal share on social
An aging writer has the not insignificant satisfaction of a shelf of books behind him that, as they wait for their ideal readers to discover them, will outlast him for a while. John Updike agingbookdiscover Change image and share on social
Golf's ultimate moral instruction directs us to find within ourselves a pivotal center of enjoyment: relax into a rhythm that fits the hills and swales, and play the shot at hand - not the last one, or the next one, but the one at your feet, in the poison ivy, where you put it. John Updike centerdirectenjoyment share on social
If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money. John Updike ceasechildearn Change image and share on social
My life is, in a sense, trash. My life is only that of which the residue is my writing. John Updike liferesiduesense Change image and share on social
The first author I met socially was Joyce Cary. John Updike authorcaryjoyce Change image and share on social
When I was born, my parents and my mother's parents planted a dogwood tree in the side yard of the large white house in which we lived throughout my boyhood. This tree I learned quite early, was exactly my age - was, in a sense, me. John Updike agebearboyhood share on social
I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone. John Updike extentgovernmentleaf Change image and share on social
Thinking it over, I can't locate another artist in the Updike family. John Updike artistfamilylocate Change image and share on social
