---
title: "2 Life Happened Quotes By Norman Maclean"
description: "2 Life Happened quotes by Norman Maclean. Plus more from Norman Maclean and more Life Happened sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/norman-maclean-10625_backwards_i-had-as-yet-no-notion-that-life-every-n_1629228.jpg"
---

> [I had as yet no notion that life every now and then becomes literature—not for long, of course, but long enough to be what we best remember, and often enough so that what we eventually come to mean by life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/i-had-as-yet-no-notion-that-life-every-now-and-then-becomes/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/norman-maclean-10625_backwards_i-had-as-yet-no-notion-that-life-every-n_1629228.jpg)

> [...life every now and then becomes literature...as if life had been made and not happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/life-every-now-and-then-becomes-literature-as-if-life-had-been-made/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/norman-maclean-10625_books_life-every-now-and-then-becomes-literatu_3143113.jpg)

## Other authors on Life Happened

## More by Norman Maclean

> [At the time I did not know that stories of life are often more like rivers than books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/at-the-time-i-did-not-know-that-stories-of-life-are-often-more-like/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“In this story of the outside world and the inside world with a fire between, the outside world of little screwups recedes now for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/in-this-story-of-the-outside-world-and-the-inside-world-with-a-fire/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“I hope there are others also who don't mind trees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/i-hope-there-are-others-also-who-don-t-mind-trees/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [Probably most catastrophes end this way without an ending, the dead not even knowing how they died...,those who loved them forever questioning "this unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/probably-most-catastrophes-end-this-way-without-an-ending-the-dead/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [If our father had had his way, nobody who did not know how to fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/if-our-father-had-had-his-way-nobody-who-did-not-know-how-to-fish/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [I knew that, when needed, mountains would move for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/i-knew-that-when-needed-mountains-would-move-for-me/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“I sat there and forgot and forgot, until what remained was the river that went by and I who watched... Eventually the watcher joined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/i-sat-there-and-forgot-and-forgot-until-what-remained-was-the-river/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/it-is-those-we-live-with-and-love-and-should-know-who-elude-us/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [Unless we are willing to escape into sentimentality or fantasy, often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/unless-we-are-willing-to-escape-into-sentimentality-or-fantasy-often/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/as-for-my-father-i-never-knew-whether-he-believed-god-was-a/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/at-sunrise-everything-is-luminous-but-not-clear/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“On the Big Blackfoot River above the mouth of Belmont Creek the banks are fringed by large Ponderosa pines. In the slanting sun of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/on-the-big-blackfoot-river-above-the-mouth-of-belmont-creek-the-banks/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [Of course, now I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/of-course-now-i-am-too-old-to-be-much-of-a-fisherman-and-now-of/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“...it is not fly fishing if you are not looking for answers to questions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/it-is-not-fly-fishing-if-you-are-not-looking-for-answers-to-questions/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/eventually-all-things-merge-into-one-and-a-river-runs-through-it-the/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

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