Cyril Connolly

As repressed sadists are supposed to become policemen or butchers so those with an irrational fear of life become publishers. ”

The civilized are those who get more out of life than the uncivilized, and for this we are not likely to be forgiven. ”

Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of life. ”

Idleness is only a coarse name for my infinite capacity for living in the present. ”

The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore. ”

Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. ”

Slums may well be breeding grounds of crime, but middle class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium. ”

When we have ceased to love the stench of the human animal, either in others or in ourselves, then are we condemned to misery, and clear thinking can begin. ”

There is no pain equal to that which two lovers can inflict on one another. This should be made clear to all who contemplate such a union. The avoidance of this pain is the beginning of wisdom, for it is strong enough to contaminate the rest of our lives. ”

The more books we read, the clearer it becomes that the true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and that no other task is of any consequence. ”