Quotes by Sinclair Lewis

“In other countries, art and literature are left to a lot of shabby bums living in attics and feeding on booze and spaghetti, but in America the successful writer or picture-painter is indistinguishable from any other decent businessman”

“He who has seen one cathedral ten times has seen something; he who has seen ten cathedrals once has seen but little; and he who has spent half an hour in each of a hundred cathedrals has seen nothing at all.”

“Winter is not a season, its an occupation”

“Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every country”

“Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and very dead.”

“I can not understand why ministers presume to deliver sermons every week at appointed hours because it is humanly impossible for inspirations to come with clock-like regularity”

“Pugnacity is a form of courage, but a very bad form”

“There are two insults no human being will endure: that he has no sense of humor, and that he has never known trouble”

“Whatever poet, orator or sage may say of it, old age is still old age.”

The Maker of the universe with stars a hundred thousand light-years apart was interested, furious, and very personal about it if a small boy played baseball on Sunday afternoon.

I was feeling rational and restless, which is horrible for watching movies

It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they dont give a damn what you say, theyre going to write.

When Buzz gets in, he wont be having any parade of wounded soldiers. Thatll be bad Fascist psychology. All those poor devils hell hide away in institutions, and just bring out the lively young human slaughter cattle in uniforms.

Like every thoughtful parent in every age of history, Neil consoled himself, My generation failed, but this new one is going to change the entire world, and go piously to the polls even on rainy election-days, and never drink more than one cocktail, and end all war.

There’s no stronger bulwark of sound conservatism than the evangelical church, and no better place to make friends who’ll help you to gain your rightful place in the community than in your own church-home!

In a matter of weeks, he had learned that without suffering and doubt, there can be no whole human being.

Well, if that’s what you call being at peace, for heaven’s sake just warn me before you go to war, will you?

I came trusting them. They beat me with rods of dullness. They dont know, they dont understand how agonizing their complacent dullness is. Like ants and August sun on a wound. - Carol Kennicott

The fact that none of these civic worriers had ever heard of such a case was unimportant, because they all had heard of somebody who had heard of it!

Oh, quit it! Youre the possessor of a beautiful wife, a beautiful gas-stove, and you were going to forget all this race-hysteria.