Basements Quote by Al Alvarez

I absolutely don't believe in anything. Full stop. Including luck.

— Al Alvarez

“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

Despair, in short, seeks its own environment as surely as water finds its own level.

— Al Alvarez

“Suicide is, after all, the result of a choice. However impulsive the action and confused the motives, at the moment when a man finally…

— Al Álvarez

When you make a bet, you're saying something.

— Al Alvarez

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

I mean being a writer is like being a psychoanalyst, but you don't get any patients.

— Al Alvarez

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

I hate writing.

— Al Alvarez

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

The fact that we write about it doesn't mean we play better than ordinary players at all.

— Al Alvarez

Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.

— Al Alvarez