Whatever is, is, and whatever is not, is not

“Defiance, Catherine, is a gift of God, who is superior to nature. When nature comes to get you, honor God by treating it, as…

— Mark Helprin

their powerlessness, innocence, and imagination fused to enable them to turn time inside out, travel on the wind, and enter the souls of animals.

— Mark Helprin

You will most appreciate 'Freddy and Fredericka' if you are familiar with the story of the Fall, the Good Hermit, 'Tom Jones,' 'Huckleberry Finn,'…

— Mark Helprin

“At least until there are new lakes in the clouds that open upon living cities as yet unknown, and perhaps forever, that is a…

— Mark Helprin

“If all the months and all their days could be like June weather in New York, there would be paradise on earth. Often, in…

— Mark Helprin

I follow my own nose. So I read things that are different. People will always say to me, "Have you read Robert S. Bosco's…

— Mark Helprin

For what can be imagined more beautiful than the sight of a perfectly just city rejoicing in justice alone.

— Mark Helprin

They were dancing around the fountain, arm in arm, in an old Dutch dance, their cheeks touching, their hands entwined. They had no music;…

— Mark Helprin

Truth is no rounder than a horse's eye.

— Mark Helprin

“Your time is a good time, and though I have to leave, you can stay. How lucky you are to be in the city…

— Mark Helprin

The British monarchy has the political and constitutional task of subtracting from the government and governors of Britain the papal and kingly airs that…

— Mark Helprin

“Do you know why you walk slowly when you’re old?” “No.” “Because with age you receive the gift of friction. The less time you…

— Mark Helprin

“In living, one muddles through the years for the sake of those one or two moments which are indisputably great.”

— Mark Helprin

Because there were all kinds of hell - some were black and dirty, and some were silvery and high.

— Mark Helprin

'Freeing' a literary work into the public domain is less a public benefit than a transfer of wealth from the families of American writers…

— Mark Helprin