To put yourself into a situation where a mistake cannot necessarily be recouped, where the life you lose may be your own, clears the head wonderfully. It puts domestic problems back into proportion and adds an element of seriousness to… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
“I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
Despair, in short, seeks its own environment as surely as water finds its own level. — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
“Suicide is, after all, the result of a choice. However impulsive the action and confused the motives, at the moment when a man finally decides to take his own life he achieves a certain temporary clarity. Suicide may be a declaration of bankruptcy which passes judgment on a life as one long history of failure. But it is a decision… — Al Álvarez Copy Share
Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of control over what seems… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
Each sporadic burst of work, each minor success and disappointment, each moment of calm and relaxation, seemed merely a temporary halt on my steady… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
I mean being a writer is like being a psychoanalyst, but you don't get any patients. — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
But in a tournament, you can be said in for all your money at any point so you can't make any mistakes so you… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
I mean to say, this is the book and I really loathe it and I can't imagine what a nice Jewish boy like me… — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
The fact that we write about it doesn't mean we play better than ordinary players at all. — Al Alvarez Copy Share Image
