“Proving, proving; and for no other reason than that he was married to a woman who had somehow managed to put him forever on the defensive, who loved him when he was nice, who lived according to what she happened… — Richard Yates Copy Share Image
“Wasn’t it true, then, that everything in his life from that point on had been a succession of things he hadn’t really wanted to do? Taking a hopelessly dull job to prove he could be as responsible as any other… — Richard Yates Copy Share Image
“Rachel was a girl who depended on small, recurrent rituals - that was one of the things he'd come to know about her, and… — Richard Yates Copy Share
“In the East, he then believed, a man went to college not for vocational training but in disciplined search for wisdom and beauty, and… — Richard Yates Copy Share
God knows there certainly ought to be a window around here somewhere, for all of us. — Richard Yates Copy Share
“And you know what else I used to love? I loved to watch you get into your car and drive away - just because… — Richard Yates Copy Share
if you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail… it takes back bone to lead the life you want — Richard Yates Copy Share
“The movies were wonderful because they took you out of yourself, and at the same time they gave you a sense of being whole.… — Richard Yates Copy Share
Do you know what the definition of insane is? Yes. It’s the inability to relate to another human being. It’s the inability to love. — Richard Yates Copy Share
“It had been easy to decide in favor of love on Bethune Street, in favor of walking proud and naked on the grass rug… — Richard Yates Copy Share
“Sometimes in dreams there are visions of the past. For that reason Alice Prentice had always welcomed sleep, but she suffered an insomniac's dread… — Richard Yates Copy Share
“There she was, lying on a single bed in a room so small that there wasn't even space for a chair, and the first… — Richard Yates Copy Share
People did change, and a change could be a bloom as well as a withering... — Richard Yates Copy Share
Hard work, is the best medicine yet devised for all the ills of man- and of woman. — Richard Yates Copy Share
“You still felt that life was passing you by? Sort of. I still had this idea that there was a whole world of marvelous… — Richard Yates Copy Share
