“Lots of Lincoln people had been to Chicago, and some even to New York, but very few had any firsthand knowledge of what Europe was like--except for the coal miners, and they didn't count.” — William Maxwell Copy Share Image
“There is nothing so difficult to arrive at as the nature and personality of one's parents. Death, about which so much mystery is made,is… — William Maxwell Copy Share
It was lovely when you found students who responded to things you were enthusiastic about. — William Maxwell Copy Share
Reading is rapture (or if it isn't, I put the book down meaning to go on with it later, and escape out the side… — William Maxwell Copy Share
If you turn the imagination loose like a hunting dog, it will often return with the bird in its mouth. — William Maxwell Copy Share
I had inadvertently walked through a door that I shouldn’t have gone through and couldn’t get back to the place I hadn’t meant to… — William Maxwell Copy Share
“Whether they are part of a home or home is a part of them is not a question children are prepared to answer. Having… — William Maxwell Copy Share
Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep. — William Maxwell Copy Share
Love, even of the most ardent and soul-destroying kind, is never caught by the lens of the camera. — William Maxwell Copy Share
The nail doesn't choose the time or the circumstances in which it is drawn to the magnet — William Maxwell Copy Share
If I had had to write only about imaginary people, I would have had to close up my typewriter. I wrote about my life… — William Maxwell Copy Share
“Without the heavy set aristocratic man snoring away on his side of the bed, without the fresh-eyed child whose hair ribbon needs retying; without… — William Maxwell Copy Share
“For most people, having company for more than three of four days is a serious mistake, the equivalent to sawing a large hole in… — William Maxwell Copy Share
“But he was careful. He didn’t make a simple remark without rehearsing it beforehand. And he continually removed the expression from his face lest… — William Maxwell Copy Share
