--- title: "19 Trying Quotes By John Updike" description: "19 Trying quotes by John Updike. Plus more from John Updike and more Trying sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f15/john-updike-396_christianity_christianity-isn-t-looking-for-a-rainbow_1190884.png" --- > [Christianity isn't looking for a rainbow. If it were... we'd pass out opium at services. We're trying to serve God, not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/christianity-isn-t-looking-for-a-rainbow-if-it-were-we-d-pass-out/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f15/john-updike-396_christianity_christianity-isn-t-looking-for-a-rainbow_1190884.png) > [I'm trying to get the terrorist out of the bugaboo category and into the category of a fellow human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-m-trying-to-get-the-terrorist-out-of-the-bugaboo-category-and-into/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/john-updike-396_being_i-m-trying-to-get-the-terrorist-out-of-t_86509.png) > [I was trying to support a family with writing. I didn't have a private income. I had no other profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-was-trying-to-support-a-family-with-writing-i-didn-t-have-a-private/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3b/john-updike-396_family_i-was-trying-to-support-a-family-with-wr_2970659.png) > [The golf swing is like a suitcase into which we are trying to pack one too many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-golf-swing-is-like-a-suitcase-into-which-we-are-trying-to-pack/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62d/john-updike-396_funny-golf_the-golf-swing-is-like-a-suitcase-into-w_1950503.png) > [If my mother hadn't been trying to be a writer, I don't know if I would have thought of it myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/if-my-mother-hadn-t-been-trying-to-be-a-writer-i-don-t-know-if-i/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/john-updike-396_been_if-my-mother-hadn-t-been-trying-to-be-a_866440.png) > [Hemingway describes literary New York as a bottle full of tapeworms trying to feed on each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/hemingway-describes-literary-new-york-as-a-bottle-full-of-tapeworms/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e44/john-updike-396_bottles_hemingway-describes-literary-new-york-as_2446558.png) > [The literary scene is a kind of Medusa’s raft, small and sinking, and one’s instinct when a newcomer tries to clamber aboard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-literary-scene-is-a-kind-of-medusa-s-raft-small-and-sinking-and/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/john-updike-396_fingers_the-literary-scene-is-a-kind-of-medusa-s_2015811.jpg) > [The educational aspect of art shows has become overbearing: some of exhibits can leave you bleary from trying to read the walls.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has-become-overbearing-some-of/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/john-updike-396_art_the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has_1523621.png) > [You imagine a reader and try to keep the reader interested. That's storytelling. You also hope to reward the reader with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the-reader-interested-that-s/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/john-updike-396_book_you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the_1583689.jpg) > [So, you know, I think any life has in it enough material, enough points of departure, to fuel a writer's career and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-enough-material-enough-points/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/john-updike-396_careers_so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-e_1522621.jpg) > [I will try not to panic, to keep my standard of living modest and to work steadily, even shyly, in the spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-standard-of-living-modest-and-to/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b7/john-updike-396_carver_i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-stand_372532.png) > [Not judginess, but openness and curiosity are our proper business. I'm still trying to educate myself. I don't think you need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity-are-our-proper-business-i-m/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/john-updike-396_business_not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity_1121039.png) > [When we try in good faith to believe in materialism, in the exclusive reality of the physical, we are asking our selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in-materialism-in-the-exclusive/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/john-updike-396_all-things_when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in_184489.png) > [Phyllis explained to him, trying to give of her deeper self, 'Don't you find it so beautiful, math? Like an endless sheet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give-of-her-deeper-self-don-t-you/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b57/john-updike-396_beautiful_phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give_2246004.png) > [Try to develop actual work habits, and even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour, say - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-even-though-you-have-a-busy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/john-updike-396_busy_try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-ev_1482247.png) > [In fact we do not try to picture the afterlife, nor is it our selves in our nervous tics and optical flecks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fact-we-do-not-try-to-picture-the-afterlife-nor-is-it-our-selves/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/john-updike-396_afterlife_in-fact-we-do-not-try-to-picture-the-aft_2899378.jpg) > [From the standpoint of a Middle Eastern citizen, Americans look like a bully forcing our way of life on the Islamic way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/from-the-standpoint-of-a-middle-eastern-citizen-americans-look-like-a/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cec/john-updike-396_action_from-the-standpoint-of-a-middle-eastern_1818167.png) > [I complain a lot. That's one way of coping. But I'm in a profession where nobody tells you to quit. No board…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-coping-but-i-m-in-a-profession/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/john-updike-396_actor_i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-copin_2611869.jpg) > [My attempt has been really to, beyond making a record of contemporary life, which is what you inevitably do, is trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-making-a-record-of-contemporary/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/john-updike-396_attempt_my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-mak_1622115.jpg) ## Other authors on Trying ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/john-updike/#itemlist", "name": "19 Trying Quotes By John Updike", "numberOfItems": 19, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Christianity isn't looking for a rainbow. If it were... we'd pass out opium at services. 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Presumably a piece of art is timeless and it can say something to us. You are taking away the right of art to talk for itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has-become-overbearing-some-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/john-updike-396_art_the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has_1523621.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/john-updike-396_art_the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has_1523621.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/john-updike-396_art_the-educational-aspect-of-art-shows-has_1523621.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The educational aspect of art shows has become overbearing: some of exhibits can leave you bleary from…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You imagine a reader and try to keep the reader interested. That's storytelling. You also hope to reward the reader with a sense of a completed design, that somebody is in charge, and that while life is pointless, the book isn't pointless. The author knows where he is going. That's form.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the-reader-interested-that-s/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/john-updike-396_book_you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the_1583689.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/john-updike-396_book_you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the_1583689.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/john-updike-396_book_you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the_1583689.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You imagine a reader and try to keep the reader interested. That's storytelling. You also hope to reward the…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So, you know, I think any life has in it enough material, enough points of departure, to fuel a writer's career and that we shouldn't worry about what we're not but to try to focus on what we are and what we do know.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-enough-material-enough-points/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/john-updike-396_careers_so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-e_1522621.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/john-updike-396_careers_so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-e_1522621.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/john-updike-396_careers_so-you-know-i-think-any-life-has-in-it-e_1522621.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So, you know, I think any life has in it enough material, enough points of departure, to fuel a writer's…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I will try not to panic, to keep my standard of living modest and to work steadily, even shyly, in the spirit of those medieval carvers who so fondly sculpted the undersides of choir seats.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-standard-of-living-modest-and-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b7/john-updike-396_carver_i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-stand_372532.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b7/john-updike-396_carver_i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-stand_372532.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b7/john-updike-396_carver_i-will-try-not-to-panic-to-keep-my-stand_372532.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I will try not to panic, to keep my standard of living modest and to work steadily, even shyly, in the…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Not judginess, but openness and curiosity are our proper business. I'm still trying to educate myself. I don't think you need to keep rehearsing your instincts. Far better to seek out models of what you can't do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity-are-our-proper-business-i-m/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/john-updike-396_business_not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity_1121039.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/john-updike-396_business_not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity_1121039.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/john-updike-396_business_not-judginess-but-openness-and-curiosity_1121039.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Not judginess, but openness and curiosity are our proper business. I'm still trying to educate myself. I…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we try in good faith to believe in materialism, in the exclusive reality of the physical, we are asking our selves to step aside; we are disavowing the very realm where we exist and where all things precious are kept - the realm of emotion and conscience, of memory and intention and sensation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in-materialism-in-the-exclusive/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/john-updike-396_all-things_when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in_184489.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/john-updike-396_all-things_when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in_184489.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/john-updike-396_all-things_when-we-try-in-good-faith-to-believe-in_184489.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we try in good faith to believe in materialism, in the exclusive reality of the physical, we are asking…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Phyllis explained to him, trying to give of her deeper self, 'Don't you find it so beautiful, math? Like an endless sheet of gold chains, each link locked into the one before it, the theorems and functions, one thing making the next inevitable. It's music, hanging there in the middle of space, meaning nothing but itself, and so moving...'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give-of-her-deeper-self-don-t-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b57/john-updike-396_beautiful_phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give_2246004.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b57/john-updike-396_beautiful_phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give_2246004.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b57/john-updike-396_beautiful_phyllis-explained-to-him-trying-to-give_2246004.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Phyllis explained to him, trying to give of her deeper self, 'Don't you find it so beautiful, math? Like an…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Try to develop actual work habits, and even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour, say - or more - a day to write. Some very good things have been written on an hour a day.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-even-though-you-have-a-busy/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/john-updike-396_busy_try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-ev_1482247.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/john-updike-396_busy_try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-ev_1482247.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/john-updike-396_busy_try-to-develop-actual-work-habits-and-ev_1482247.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Try to develop actual work habits, and even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour, say - or…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In fact we do not try to picture the afterlife, nor is it our selves in our nervous tics and optical flecks that we wish to perpetuate; it is the self as the window on the world that we can't bear to thinkof shutting. My mind when I was a boy of ten or eleven sent up its silent scream at the thought of future aeons -- at the thought of the cosmic party going on without me. 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The notion of purity is very important in Islam, and a lot of the negative warlike actions taken against us have to do with our physical presence in the Middle East. Osama bin Laden was trying to get the American, or protesting the American military presence in Saudi Arabia. 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That's one way of coping. But I'm in a profession where nobody tells you to quit. No board of other partners tells you it's time to get your gold watch, and no physical claim is made on you like an athlete or an actress. So I try to plug along on the theory that I can still do it. I still keep trying to produce prose, and some poetry, in the hope that I can find something to say about being alive, this country, but generally the human condition.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-coping-but-i-m-in-a-profession/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/john-updike-396_actor_i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-copin_2611869.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/john-updike-396_actor_i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-copin_2611869.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/john-updike-396_actor_i-complain-a-lot-that-s-one-way-of-copin_2611869.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I complain a lot. That's one way of coping. But I'm in a profession where nobody tells you to quit. No board…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My attempt has been really to, beyond making a record of contemporary life, which is what you inevitably do, is trying to make beautiful books - books that are in some way beautiful, that are models of how to use the language, models of honest feeling, models of care.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-making-a-record-of-contemporary/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/john-updike-396_attempt_my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-mak_1622115.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/john-updike-396_attempt_my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-mak_1622115.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/john-updike-396_attempt_my-attempt-has-been-really-to-beyond-mak_1622115.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My attempt has been really to, beyond making a record of contemporary life, which is what you inevitably do…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/john-updike/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/john-updike/", "name": "Trying Quotes by John Updike", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/john-updike/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f15/john-updike-396_christianity_christianity-isn-t-looking-for-a-rainbow_1190884.png" }, "description": "19 Trying quotes by John Updike. 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