His 1951 novel “The Catcher in the Rye” became an instant best-seller and a touchstone for generations of readers. And it’s one of our favorites. Here are some of most memorable quotes by J.D. Salinger
– 1 –
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
– 2 –
“When you’re dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
– 3 –
“If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late?”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
– 4 –
“I’m a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.” ― J.D. Salinger, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction
– 5 –
“An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.”
― J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
– 6 –
“Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
– 7 –
“If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the “Fuck you” signs in the world. It’s impossible.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
– 8 –
“She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” ― J. D. Salinger, “A Girl I Knew”
– 9 –
“I have scars on my hands from touching certain people…Certain heads, certain colours and textures of human hair leave permanent marks on me.”
― J.D. Salinger, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction
– 10 –
“It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
