All Charles Baxter Quotes
- Say what you want about it, Hell is story-friendly... The mechanisms of hell are nicely attuned to the mechanisms of narrative. Not so the pleasures… Attuned
- What's agitating about solitude is the inner voice telling you that you should be mated to somebody, that solitude is a mistake. The inner voice… Agitating
- When you’re in love you don’t have to do a damn thing. You can just be. You can just stay quiet in the world. You… Damn
- Because it is the Midwest, no one really glitters because no one has to, it's more of a dull shine, like frequently used silverware. Dull
- At least with pets, and for all I know, people too, intelligence and quick-wittedness have nothing to do with a talent for being loved, or… All
- When blame has been assigned, the story is over. Assigned
- My God, the corruptions of literature. It put all these notions into our heads. All
- Needing something is not the same thing as being interested in the thing itself. Funny
- At its best, fiction is not a diversion but a means of knowing the world. Best
- Before, I was always trying to make my relationships work by means of willpower and forced affability. This time I didn't have to strive for… Affability
- There is such a thing as the poetry of a mistake, and when you say, "Mistakes were made," you deprive an action of its poetry,… Action
- When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story. All
- What a midwesterner he was, a thoroughly unhip guy with his heart in the usual place, on the sleeve, in plain sight. Guy
- Every relationship has at least one really good day. What I mean is, no matter how sour things go, there's always that day. That day… All
- The problem with love and God, the two of them, is how to say anything about them that doesn’t annihilate them instantly with the wrong… Altogether
- A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of… Collection
- Literature is not an instruction manual. Inspirational
- What's agitating about solitude is the inner voice telling you that you should be mated to somebody, that solitude is a mistake. The inner voice… Agitating
- You think that what I've told you is an anecdote. But really it isn't. It's my whole life. It's the only story I have. Anecdote
- You are a real find and you keep me satisfied, up to a point. After all, I'm a malcontent and you can't change that. All
- Forget art. Put your trust in ice cream. Art
- Gainfully unemployed, very proud of it, too. Funny
- In truth, there are only two realities: the one for people who are in love or love each other, and the one for people who… All
- There is no weather in malls. Inspirational
- Everybody should customize their names. Customize