Is an intelligent human being likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?
Philip RothThere is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.
Philip RothDoctor, I had never had anybody like her in my life, she was the fulfillment of my most lascivious adolescent dreamsโ but marry her, can she be serious? You see, for all her preening and perfumes, she has a very low opinion of herself, and simultaneouslyโ and here is the source of much of our trouble-a ridiculously high opinion of me. And simultaneously, a very low opinion of me! She is one confused Monkey, and, I'm afraid, not too very bright.
Philip Rotha father for whom everything is an unshakable duty, for whom there is a right way and a wrong way and nothing in between, a father whose compound of ambitions, biases, and beliefs is so unruffled by careful thinking that he isnโt as easy to escape from as he seems. Limited men with limitless energy; men quick to be friendly and quick to be fed up; men for whom the most serious thing in life is to keep going despite everything. And we were their sons. It was our job to love them.
Philip Roth