Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller was an American satirical novelist, short story writer and playwright. He wrote the influential novel Catch-22 about American servicemen during World War II. The title of this work entered the English lexicon to refer to absurd, more..

Joseph Heller

:The years are too short, the days are too long. #Life and Living

Joseph Heller :When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, 'Who has?' #Books - Reading

Joseph Heller :“From now on I'm thinking only of me.” Major Danby replied indulgently with a superior smile: “But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way?” “Then,” said Yossarian, “I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?” #Smile

Joseph Heller :I'm not even sure we really had that much need for God as much as we did seem to have a need to believe in Him. #God

Joseph Heller :"[T]he God I don't believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful God. He's not the mean and stupid God you make him out to be." #Mercy

Joseph Heller :Whether God is dead or not hardly matters, for we would use him no differently anyway. #God

Joseph Heller :All is vanity, you know, ALL in the long run is but vanity and vexation of spirit. #Family

Joseph Heller : I want to keep my dreams, even bad ones, because without them, I might have nothing all night long. #Dreams

Joseph Heller :"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." #Enemies

Joseph Heller :Didn't I once observe that there is nothing new under the sun? #Action

Joseph Heller :Fools hate knowledge. #Knowledge

Joseph Heller

:Forever goes quick. #Life and Living

Joseph Heller :Now THERE'S a hollow state to be in, isn't it- to believe in God and get no sign that He's there. #God

Joseph Heller :I imagine that God Himself frequently wants to feel like a king. Why else would He create the world? #Imagination

Joseph Heller :He [God] owes me an apology too- at the very least. I'm not saying I shouldn't have been punished for those sins I committed. I'm saying that the punishments he chose were inhuman. I wonder what favor I'd want. I think I may be afraid to ask for it. I'm afraid He won't grant it. I'm more afraid that He will. Wouldn't it be tragic to find out that He really has been here all this time? #Fear

Joseph Heller :"If God was dead, how could I feel this bad?" #God

Joseph Heller :If character is destiny, the good are damned. #Character

Joseph Heller :No one lusting for blood is ever innocent. Or satisfied. I have not been innocent. Or satisfied. Just as the man who wants silver will not be satisfied with silver, a man who wants the blood of another will not be satisfied with having that blood, nor the woman with jewels be satisfied with jewels, and the man who wants women will not be satisfied with women. Don't try telling me different. Haven't I looked about me in the city and seen how all labor is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not filled? Don't I know myself that no want is ever satisfied? Wishes are granted, goals attained. But wants? Forget them. They live as long as the person they inhabit. #Cities and City Life

Joseph Heller : He was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody. #Failure

Joseph Heller :I am arrogant enough to wish I were modest as he and modest enough to know that this is arrogance. #Modesty

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