--- title: "6 Deeper Quotes By Don DeLillo" description: "6 Deeper quotes by Don DeLillo. Plus more from Don DeLillo and more Deeper sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg" --- > [Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is dead. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business-a-portrait-doesn-t-begin-to/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg) > [“The deeper we delve into the nature of things, the looser our structure may seem to become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-things-the-looser-our/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58e/don-delillo-294_architecture_the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-t_1632597.jpg) > [Human existence had to have a deeper source than our own dank fluids. Dank or rank. There had to be a force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-source-than-our-own-dank-fluids/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/don-delillo-294_behinds_human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-sou_1927173.jpg) > [Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-the-end-of-it-and-the-writer/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/don-delillo-294_beats_every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-th_2077376.jpg) > [It was only after two years' work that it occurred to me that I was a writer. I had no particular expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-a/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/don-delillo-294_books_it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it_2759222.jpg) > [One truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-the-beat-and-poise-but-down/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/106/don-delillo-294_beats_one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-t_2845144.jpg) ## Other authors on Deeper ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/#itemlist", "name": "6 Deeper Quotes By Don DeLillo", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is dead. This is the whole point. We're doing this to create a kind of sentimental past for people in decades to come. It's their past, their history we're inventing here. And it's not how I look now that matters. It's how I'll look in twenty-five years as clothing and faces change, as photographs change. The deeper I pass into death, the more powerful my picture becomes. Isn't this why picture-taking is so ceremonial? It's like a wake. And I'm the actor made up for the laying-out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business-a-portrait-doesn-t-begin-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The deeper we delve into the nature of things, the looser our structure may seem to become.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-things-the-looser-our/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58e/don-delillo-294_architecture_the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-t_1632597.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58e/don-delillo-294_architecture_the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-t_1632597.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58e/don-delillo-294_architecture_the-deeper-we-delve-into-the-nature-of-t_1632597.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The deeper we delve into the nature of things, the looser our structure may seem to become.” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Human existence had to have a deeper source than our own dank fluids. Dank or rank. There had to be a force behind it, a principal being who was and is and ever shall be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-source-than-our-own-dank-fluids/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/don-delillo-294_behinds_human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-sou_1927173.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/don-delillo-294_behinds_human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-sou_1927173.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/don-delillo-294_behinds_human-existence-had-to-have-a-deeper-sou_1927173.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Human existence had to have a deeper source than our own dank fluids. Dank or rank. There had to be a force…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally gets there. On one level this truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer as he matches with the language. I've always seen myself in sentences. I begin to recognize myself, word by word, as I work through a sentence. The language of my books has shaped me as a man. There's a moral force in a sentence when it comes out right. It speaks the writer's will to live.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-the-end-of-it-and-the-writer/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/don-delillo-294_beats_every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-th_2077376.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/don-delillo-294_beats_every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-th_2077376.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/don-delillo-294_beats_every-sentence-has-a-truth-waiting-at-th_2077376.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was only after two years' work that it occurred to me that I was a writer. I had no particular expectation that the novel would ever be published, because it was sort of a mess. It was only when I found myself writing things I didn't realise I knew that I said, 'I'm a writer now.' The novel had become an incentive to deeper thinking. That's really what writing is—an intense form of thought.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/don-delillo-294_books_it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it_2759222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/don-delillo-294_books_it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it_2759222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/don-delillo-294_books_it-was-only-after-two-years-work-that-it_2759222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was only after two years' work that it occurred to me that I was a writer. I had no particular…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer as he matches with the language.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-the-beat-and-poise-but-down/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/106/don-delillo-294_beats_one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-t_2845144.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/106/don-delillo-294_beats_one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-t_2845144.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/106/don-delillo-294_beats_one-truth-is-the-swing-of-the-sentence-t_2845144.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/", "name": "Deeper Quotes by Don DeLillo", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/don-delillo-294_actors_sitting-for-a-picture-is-morbid-business_1050643.jpg" }, "description": "6 Deeper quotes by Don DeLillo. Plus more from Don DeLillo and more Deeper sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Deeper", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Don DeLillo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/don-delillo/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```