I turn sentences around. That's my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and turn it around again.
Philip RothYou have a conscience, and a conscience is a valuable attribute, but not if it begins to make you think you were to blame for what is far beyond the scope of your responsibility.
Philip RothWhen I have a first draft, I have a floor under my feet that I can walk on. And then, especially with the help of the computer, rewriting is so easy to do with the computer, much easier than it used to be with the typewriter. So the books go through numerous drafts.
Philip RothI have a slogan I use when I get anxious writing, which happens quite a bit: โthe ordeal is part of the commitment.โ Itโs one of my mantras. It makes a lot of things doable.
Philip RothPeople were standing up everywhere shouting, "This is me! This is me!" Every time you looked at them they stood up and told you who they were, and the truth of it was that they had no more idea who or what they were than he had. They believed their flashing signs, too. They ought to be standing up and shouting, "This isn't me! This isn't me!" They would if they had any decency. "This isn't me!" Then you might know how to proceed through the flashing bullshit of this world.
Philip Roth