---
title: "7 Must Quotes By John Updike"
description: "7 Must quotes by John Updike. Plus more from John Updike and more Must sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/john-updike-396_anna_in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-reale_64495.jpg"
---

> [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/john-updike-396_anna_in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-reale_64495.jpg)

> [Does fiction, artistic writing, have much of a future? I must say it's on the way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/does-fiction-artistic-writing-have-much-of-a-future-i-must-say-it-s/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51b/john-updike-396_art_does-fiction-artistic-writing-have-much_722706.png)

> [I should mention something that nobody ever thinks about, but proofreading takes a lot of time. After you write something, there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-should-mention-something-that-nobody-ever-thinks-about-but/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d8/john-updike-396_about_i-should-mention-something-that-nobody-e_780389.png)

> [I must say, when I reread myself, it's the poetry I tend to look at. It's the most exciting to write, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-must-say-when-i-reread-myself-it-s-the-poetry-i-tend-to-look-at-it/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c25/john-updike-396_exciting_i-must-say-when-i-reread-myself-it-s-the_1281031.png)

> [A seventeenth-century house tends to be short on frills like hallways and closets; you must improvise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/a-seventeenth-century-house-tends-to-be-short-on-frills-like-hallways/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/john-updike-396_closets_a-seventeenth-century-house-tends-to-be_2489078.png)

> [Belief, like love, must be voluntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/belief-like-love-must-be-voluntary/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/john-updike-396_belief_belief-like-love-must-be-voluntary-25734_2573466.png)

> [The writer must face the fact that ordinary lives are what most people live most of the time, and that the novel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-writer-must-face-the-fact-that-ordinary-lives-are-what-most/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/john-updike-396_adventurous_the-writer-must-face-the-fact-that-ordin_2819532.jpg)

## Other authors on Must

## More by John Updike

> [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

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