The tension between 'yes' and no', between 'I can' and 'I cannot,' makes us feel that, in so many instances, human life is an interminable debate with one's self.
Anatole BroyardThe more I like a book, the more reluctant I am to turn the page. Lovers, even book lovers, tend to cling. No one-night stands or "reads" for them.
Anatole BroyardRuefulness is one of the classical tones of American fiction. It fosters a native, deglamorized form of anxiety.
Anatole BroyardIf a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's great, it should be read at least three times.
Anatole BroyardTravel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one's own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live. There is in men, as Peter Quennell said, "a centrifugal tendency." In our wanderlust, we are lovers looking for consummation.
Anatole Broyard